The use of micelles in high performance liquid chromatography was first introduced by Armstrong and Henry in 1980.  The technique is used mainly to enhance retention and selectivity of various solutes that would otherwise be inseparable or poorly resolved.  Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) has been used in a variety of applications including separation of mixtures of charged and neutral solutes, direct injection of serum and other physiological fluids, analysis of pharmaceutical compounds, separation of enantiomers, analysis of inorganic organometallics, and a host of others.
One of the main drawbacks of the technique is the reduced efficiency that is caused by the micelles.  Despite the sometimes poor efficiency, MLC is a better choice than ion-exchange LC or ion-pairing LC for separation of charged molecules and mixtures of charged and neutral species. Some of the aspects which will be discussed are the theoretical aspects of MLC, the use of models in predicting retentive characteristics of MLC, the effect of micelles on efficiency and selectivity, and general applications of MLC.
Reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) involves a non-polar stationary phase, often a hydrocarbon chain, and a polar mobile or liquid phase.  The mobile phase generally consists of an aqueous portion with an organic addition, such as methanol or acetonitrile. When a solution of analytes is injected into the system, the components begin to partition out of the mobile phase and interact with the stationary phase.  Each component interacts with the stationary phase in a different manner depending upon its polarity and hydrophobicity.  In reverse phase HPLC, the solute with the greatest polarity will interact less with the stationary phase and spend more time in the mobile phase.  As the polarity of the components decreases, the time spent in the column increases.  Thus, a separation of components is achieved based on polarity. The addition of micelles to the mobile phase introduces a third phase into which the solutes may partition.