Microemulsions in near-critical fluids

Over the past decade there has been much interest in near-critical fluids (NCFs) as a ‘new’ apolar solvent medium. A more recent development of these studies concerns formation of water-in-NCF microemulsions. This has been stimulated both by fundamental interest in surfactant-oil interactions and by potential applications. A major advance in the period under review is the formation of stable microemulsions in NCF CO2 without the use of cosurfactant.