Aggregation in detergent-free ternary mixtures with microemulsion-like properties

Aggregation in liquid mixtures is a ubiquitous phenomenon when water and at the same time rather unpolar compounds are present. Of special interest in recent years have been systems, in which the tendency of phase separation of a binary mixture is overcome by the solubilization ability of a short-chain alcohol as a third component. In such systems, polar and nonpolar domains coexist in absence of traditional long-chain surfactants. Their microemulsion-like properties, which lead to the names “detergent-less microemulsions” and “surfactant-free microemulsions” (SFMEs), have been studied by a variety of experimental methods and by simulations. In this review we summarize work that has been pursued to characterize these systems and give a short account of their various applications.