MICROEMULSION, SURFACTANT VESICLE AND POLYMERIZED SURFACTANT VESICLE ENTRAPPED COLLOIDAL CATALYSTS AND SEMICONDUCTORS: PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND UTILIZATION.

Noble metal catalysts have been extensively utilized in many important industrial processes for some time. Typically, they are deposited on solid surfaces in reactors. Physical chemical characterizations of catalytic surfaces have only recently become available. In general, catalytic activity is related to surface area. Smaller particles have larger surface areas and are, therefore, better catalysts than larger particles. Semiconductors have found applications in electrical and photoelectrical processes in solar energy conversion. They are deposited on a variety of solid surfaces or on electrodes. Particularly noteworthy is the recent utilization of dispersed colloidal doped semiconductors in artificial photosynthesis. Emphasis in the present article will be placed on recent work pertaining to the mechanism of colloidal catalyst and semiconductor formation in microemulsions, surfactant vesicles and polymerized vesicles, their characterization and utilization.