Thin liquid films containing micelles or nanoparticles

The stratification/microstructure formation inside suspended thin liquid films containing micelles or other nanoparticles is reviewed with the aim of clarifying some key issues and suggesting unresolved questions requiring further investigation. New experiments reveal that the micellar layer thinning phenomenon is a reversible process in films formed from non-ionic micellar solutions. The important factors contributing to the correlation between the ordered microstructure formation that leads to a high structural stabilization force in a single free suspended film and the stability of macrodispersions (such as foams and emulsions and particle suspensions) are also discussed.