A novel reverse worm-like micelle from a lecithin/sucrose fatty acid ester/oil system

We report a novel method for forming reverse worm-like micelles in nonpolar organic solvents. This method requires the addition of trace amounts of a sucrose fatty acid ester (SFE), in addition to lecithin and a nonpolar organic solvent. The region in which these micelles formed increased with lecithin concentration and hydrophobicity of SFE. In addition, zero-shear viscosity (η ₀) of the reverse worm-like micelles increased rapidly upon addition of SFE, reaching 1–3 million times the viscosity of n-decane. Furthermore, the change in η ₀ was examined in detail by performing dynamic viscoelasticity measurements. Results showed that the η ₀ of solution increased upon addition of SFE because both the length and number of reverse worm-like micelles increased along with SFE concentration.