Deep Eutectic Solvents and Surfactant Self-Assembly
Summary
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are tailor-made mixtures of hydrogen bond acceptors and donors that form low-melting, non-aqueous liquids with tuneable polarity, viscosity and ionic strength. They have emerged as sustainable alternatives to conventional solvents and ionic liquids, offering low toxicity, biodegradability and facile preparation from inexpensive precursors. Amphiphilic molecules—surfactants—retain their propensity to self-assemble in these media, forming micelles, vesicles and more complex lyotropic structures. The balance of hydrogen bonding, ion-pair interactions and solvophobic forces within DESs can be manipulated through composition, hydration level and temperature to direct surfactant packing and aggregate morphology. Such control has opened pathways to new colloidal architectures, responsive drug-delivery vehicles, green template synthesis of nanomaterials and advanced electrochemical formulations. Recent findings underscore the global significance of DES–surfactant systems in areas spanning pharmaceuticals, catalysis and materials science, bridging fundamental colloid science and practical applications in a greener chemical landscape.
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Deep Eutectic Solvents and Surfactant Self-Assembly publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in deep eutectic solvents and surfactant self-assembly across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Deep eutectic solvent: A low-melting liquid formed by complexing a hydrogen bond acceptor and donor, yielding tuneable solvent properties.
Amphiphile: A molecule bearing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, which drives self-assembly in polar and non-polar media.
Micelle: A colloidal aggregate of amphiphiles often forming spherical or rod-like structures when the concentration exceeds the critical micelle concentration.
Critical micelle concentration (CMC): The threshold concentration above which surfactant molecules spontaneously assemble into micelles.
Hydrogen bond donor: A molecular species that provides a hydrogen atom capable of forming a hydrogen bond, crucial for DES formation and solvent-surfactant interactions.
References
- Influence of Deep Eutectic Solvent Composition on Micelle Properties: A Molecular Dynamics Study. Molecules (2025).
- Long-Range Electrostatic Colloidal Interactions and Specific Ion Effects in Deep Eutectic Solvents. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2021).
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