| Abstract
| - Amphiphilic diblock copolymers added to microemulsions proved to enhance the efficiency of surfactantsdramatically. The complementary effect of homopolymers is considered in the current work. A possibleapplication of the homopolymer addition could be the viscosity tuning of the microemulsion without changingthe considered bicontinuous phase. Furthermore, (homo)polymers are added for many other reasons intechnical applications. A theory by Eisenriegler predicts a decreased efficiency when homopolymers areadded. In further experiments, the simultaneous addition of homopolymers and diblock copolymers probeswhether the two opposite effects superpose and allow for a compensation. Then, efficiency and viscosityare adjustable independently. Experimentally, phase diagrams are investigated and the microscopicstructure is measured by small-angle neutron scattering. Within the presented models, both experimentalmethods are compared and discussed on the basis of the surfactant membrane bending moduli. Thehomopolymer effect is about 7 times larger than that theoretically predicted, and the superposition of thetwo polymer effects allows for a compensation with an optionally tunable viscosity.
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