This chapter summarizes the authors' efforts to develop modified microemulsions as nano-sized self-assembled liq. vehicles for the solubilization of nutraceuticals and to improve transmembrane transport for addnl. health benefits. Construction of U-type phase diagrams is essential for formulations of water-dilutable microemulsions. The solubilized active mols. are compds. with nutritional value to human health that are used in food applications. The chapter mentions a few such examples, such as lycopene, phytosterols, lutein, toco-pherols, CoQ10 , and essential oils. Some nutraceuticals are known to be practically insol. in water and, therefore, tablets or capsules that are taken orally tend to ppt. once the active ingredient is dild. with water. As a result, the bioavailability is very limited, and the adsorption from the intestine to the blood serum is poorly controlled. Water entrapped at the core of a w/o microemulsion can be bound to the surfactant head group that will restrict the water activity. [on SciFinder(R)]

In the course of our studies on structured reverse lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) as oleogels, a system was designed with the desired physical and rheology properties for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The aqueous phase was partially replaced by glycerol to minimize bacteriological problems and obtain specific rheology characteristics. The constructed phase diagrams are based on ternary mixtures of glycerol monooleate (GMO), decane, water, and glycerol. The main lyotropic mesophase obtained in this study was reverse hexagonal derived from dilution line 8:2 (72 wt% GMO and 18 wt% decane) and 10 wt% water; or water:glycerol (wt ratios 3:1 and 1:1) mixture. It was found that heat-cool fluctuation caused formation of new pseudo-equilibrium structures with mesomorphic transformations to more fluid and less ordered mesostructures. Replacing up to 50 wt% of the water by glycerol significantly increases the gel phase region in the phase diagram, meaning more structural compositional options. The structural parameters were determined using cross-polarized light microscopy (CPLM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Rheological measurements revealed viscoelastic properties of lyotropic liquid crystals with a decrease in the elasticity (G'), plasticity (GaEuro(3)), and complex viscosity (eta\*\), as a function of increasing the glycerol content.

A review. Liq. crystal (LC) science and technol. have made important contributions to nanoscience and nanotechnol. in areas such as medical diagnostics, drug-delivery, and high-tech devices. Their main nanotechnol. contribution is their ability to provide new synthetic procedures and the self-assembly of nanoscale materials with controlled uniformity of size, shape, and dimensionality. The self-assembly of the liq. cryst. systems, particularly of the lyotropic LC type, enables the incorporation of lipophilic and hydrophilic reagents that meet to react at the interface. Therefore the properties of reactions and products are governed by the host system and by the external conditions which directly affect the LC host or template. This article attempts to present an overview of current research in the fields of synthesis and self-assembly of nanomaterials using mainly lyotropic LCs, and partially thermotropic LCs, as direct and reverse templates. [on SciFinder(R)]

A review on phytosterol vegetable oil organogels, phospholipid microemulsion organogels, wax-based organogels, and 12-hydroxystearic acid vegetable oil organogels. [on SciFinder(R)]

A review on fundamental concepts that are pertinent to understanding surfactants. It also describes self-assembled aggregate structures of surfactants. [on SciFinder(R)]

A review. First the definition of microemulsions is referred. The differences between microemulsions, emulsions and nanoemulsions are demonstrated. A simple presentation of the mechanism of microemulsion stability is then given., followed by a discussion of microstructures, a characterization of microemulsions,and a brief description of their phase behavior. After that, applications of. microemulsions are discussed, with a focus on the important topic of solubilization of bioactives. Obviously the description of this application was not meant to be all-inclusive. Rather, it was delved into selected microemulsion systems which mainly were investigated in the authors' lab. [on SciFinder(R)]