Molecular Simulation of Reverse Micelles

Reverse micelles (RM) are surfactant assemblies containing a nanosized water pool dissolved in a hydrophobic solvent. Understanding their properties is crucial for insight into the effect of confinement on aqueous structure, dynamics as well as physical processes associated with solutes in confinement. We perform molecular dynamics simulations for the RM formed by the surfactant Aerosol-OT (AOT) in isooctane (2,2,4-trimethyl pentane) in order to study the effect of reverse micelle size on the aqueous phase. The structure of the RM is quantified in terms of the radial and pair density distributions. Dynamics are studied in terms of the mean squared displacements and various orientational time correlation functions in different parts of the RM so as to understand the effect of proximity to the interface on aqueous dynamics. Shape fluctuations of the RM are also analyzed.