Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Large scale Monte-Carlo simulations have been performed on a lattice model for a three component system of water, oil, and surfactants to obtain the phase equilibria and scattering behavior for a wide range of temperatures and chemical potentials. We observed that this model has a rich phase behavior, namely a water-oil phase coexistence, a microemulsion phase, a lamellar phase, and a square phase. This phase diagram is consistent with experiments, and is in qualitative agreement with a model of Gompper and Schick [ Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 1647 (1989)].