SUMMARY

Literature studies on nanoparticle preparation by (w/o) microemulsions focused on demonstrating the feasibility of synthesizing different classes of nanoparticles and ways of controlling particle size. (w/o) Microemulsion systems are attractive media for nanoparticle preparation due to their ability to form wide variety of nanoparticles with controllable sizes. However, (w/o) microemulsions suffer from low reactant solubilization and product stabilization capacities. Nonetheless, for some applications; including heterogeneous catalysis in organic phases, (w/o) microemulsions serve as ideal preparation media. The catalytic activity of ultradispersed nanocatalysts depends primarily on their surface area/L of the organic medium, which is dictated by particle size, colloidal concentration and stability. Current research in our group focuses on exploring ways of maximizing the concentration of stable colloidal nanoparticles, nanoparticle uptake, in single (w/o) microemulsions. When coupled with small particle size, high uptake leads to high surface area/L of the microemulsion system. This review summarizes our group findings pertaining to variables affecting nanoparticle uptake for reactive and non-reactive surfactant systems.