On the intramicellar fluorescence quenching rate constant in cylindrical micelles

Diffusion-Controlled Reactions in Micellar Systems

Reaction kinetics in micellar solutions are studied theoretically with an emphasis on diffusioncontrolled luminescence quenching. Different spatial arrangements of reactants within individual micelles are analyzed and a general method for treating diffusion-controlled reactions in a finite volume employing an effective potential approximation is developed. Several models are considered for the exchange of reactants between micelles including migration mediated by the bulk phase and successive multiparticle hopping through transient channels connecting micelles during their sticky collisions. These results are combined in a general stochastic theory of reaction kinetics in micellar solutions with exchange. The theory is further extended to reactions in clusters of micelles using a continuous time random walk approach. Once the principal features of micellar kinetics are understood, one can extract important structural and dynamic information on the aggregates and their guest molecules by analyzing suitably designed experiments.

Mixed Micellization of Dimeric (Gemini) Surfactants and Conventional Surfactants

The aqueous solutions of mixtures of various conventional surfactants and dimeric anionic and cationic surfactants have been investigated by electrical conductivity, spectrofluorometry, and time-resolved fluorescence quenching to determine the critical micelle concentrations and the micelle aggregation numbers in these mixtures. The following systems have been investigated: 12-2-12/DTAB, 12-2-12/C(12)E(6), 12-2-12/C(12)E(8), 12-3-12/C(12)E(8), Dim3/C(12)E(8), and Dim4/C(12)E(8) (12-2-12 and 12-3-12=dimethylene-1,2- and trimethylene-1,3-bis(dodecyldimethylammonium bromide), respectively; C(12)E(6) and C(12)E(8)=hexa- and octaethyleneglycol monododecylethers, respectively; Dim3 and Dim4=anionic dimeric surfactants of the disodium sulfonate type, Scheme 1; DTAB=dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide). For the sake of comparison the conventional surfactant mixtures DTAB/C(12)E(8) and SDS/C(12)E(8) (SDS=sodium dodecylsulfate) have also been investigated (reference systems). Synergism in micelle formation (presence of a minimum in the cmc vs composition plot) has been observed for the Dim4/C(12)E(8) mixture but not for other dimeric surfactant/nonionic surfactant mixtures investigated. The aggregation numbers of the mixed reference systems DTAB/C(12)E(8) and SDS/C(12)E(8) vary monotonously with composition from the value of the aggregation number of the pure C(12)E(8) to that of the pure ionic component. In contrast, the aggregation number of the dimeric surfactant/C(12)E(8) mixtures goes through a minimum at a low value of the dimeric surfactant mole fraction. This minimum does not appear to be correlated to the existence of synergism in micelle formation. The initial decrease of the aggregation number of the nonionic surfactant upon addition of ionic surfactant, up to a mole fraction of ionic surfactant of about 0.2 (in equivalent per total equivalent), depends little on the nature the surfactant, whether conventional or dimeric. The results also show that the microviscosity of the systems containing dimeric surfactants is larger than that of the reference systems. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Kinetics of diffusion-assisted reactions in microheterogeneous systems

This review is focused on the basic theory of diffusion-assisted reactions in microheterogeneous systems, from porous solids to self-organized colloids and biomolecules. Rich kinetic behaviors observed experimentally are explained in a unified fashion using simple concepts of competing distance and time scales of the reaction and the embedding structure. We mainly consider pseudo-first-order reactions, such as luminescence quenching, described by the Smoluchowski type of equation for the reactant pair distribution function with a sink term defined by the reaction mechanism. Microheterogeneity can affect the microscopic rate constant. It also enters the evolution equation through various spatial constraints leading to complicated boundary conditions and, possibly, to the reduction of dimensionality of the diffusion space. The reaction coordinate and diffusive motion along this coordinate are understood in a general way, depending on the problem at hand. Thus, the evolution operator can describe translational and rotational diffusion of molecules in a usual sense, it can be a discrete random walk operator when dealing with hopping of adsorbates in solids, or it can correspond to conformational fluctuations in proteins. Mathematical formulation is universal but physical consequences can be different. Understanding the principal features of reaction kinetics in microheterogeneous systems enables one to extract important structural and dynamical information about the host environments by analyzing suitably designed experiments, it helps building effective strategies for computer simulations, and ultimately opens possibilities for designing systems with controllable reactivity properties.

Aggregation Behavior of Tyloxapol, a Nonionic Surfactant Oligomer, in Aqueous Solution

The aggregation behavior of Tyloxapol, a nonionic surfactant oligomer with a repeating unit close to Triton X-100 (TX100), and a maximum degree of polymerization of about 7, has been investigated in aqueous solution by means of fluorescence probing, time-resolved fluorescence quenching (TRFQ) and transmission electron microscopy at cryogenic temperature (cryo-TEM). The plot of the pyrene fluorescence intensity ratio I1/I3 against the Tyloxapol concentration shows no clear evidence of a critical micelle concentration contrary to TX100. Nevertheless, the fitting of these data, assuming a partition of pyrene between Tyloxapol aggregates and water, yields cmc values in the micromolar range, i.e., about a hundred times lower than for the "monomer" TX100. The values of I1/I3 at high surfactant concentrations indicate that Tyloxapol micelles provide pyrene a less polar environment than TX100 micelles. The use of the viscosity-sensitive probe 1,3-dipyrenylpropane indicates that the microviscosity of Tyloxapol micelles is quite high, three to four times larger than that for TX100 micelles, and decreases rapidly with increasing temperature. Also the microviscosities of both TX100 and Tyloxapol micelles are larger than those for the micelles of the nonionic ethoxylated surfactant C12E9. The aggregation numbers of Tyloxapol and of TX100 micelles measured using TRFQ increase with temperature, with the Tyloxapol micelles being smaller than the TX100 micelles. Cryo-TEM shows that the Tyloxapol micelles remain spheroidal up to a concentration of about 10 wt%. At 15 wt%, some regions of ordered elongated micelles are also observed which may be the precursors of the hexagonal phase known to occur at about 35 wt%. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Aggregation Behavior of Sugar Surfactants in Aqueous Solutions: Effects of Temperature and the Addition of Nonionic Polymers

The aggregation behavior, critical micelle concentration (cmc) and micelle aggregation number (N), of dodecyl maltoside (DM), octyl glucoside (OG), and Hecameg has been investigated in water and in water plus one of the three water-soluble polymers, polyoxyethylene (POE), polyoxypropylene (POP), and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), by means of florescence probing and time-resolved fluorescence quenching. The cmc of DM in water increased with temperature and showed a slight increase in the presence of POE. The aggregation number N of DM micelles was nearly independent of concentration (0.25-1 wt %) and temperature (16-60 degreesC). It remained invariant upon addition of 2 wt % POE or PVP but decreased slightly upon addition of the more hydrophobic POP. With increasing temperature, the cmc of OG decreased, went through a shallow minimum at around 35 degreesC, and increased. Addition of POE slightly increased the cmc in the whole temperature range. The aggregation number of OG micelles showed a fairly flat maximum at around 30 degreesC, and was unaffected by the presence of 2 wt % POE or PVP. However, N showed a complex dependence on temperature in the presence of POP, with lower values than in pure water below 15 degreesC, and rapidly increasing quencher-dependent values above this temperature. Hecameg was characterized by N-values nearly independent of temperature and concentration. Intermicellar exchanges of probe and/or quencher were observed with OG and Hecameg, but not with DM. The above results are compared to those for the nonionic ethoxylated surfactants. The effect of various parameters on the micelle aggregation number, the micelle polydispersity, the occurrence of sugar surfactant/nonionic polymer interactions, and the mechanisms responsible for the observed intermicellar exchanges are discussed. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.