The effect of glycols and their ethers on micellar behavior of cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate

Structural alterations of branched versus linear mixed-surfactant micellar systems with the addition of a complex perfume mixture and dipropylene glycol as cosolvent

Personal care products commonly contain perfume mixtures, consisting of numerous perfume raw materials (PRMs), and cosolvents. The lipophilicity and structure of an individual PRM is known to affect its localization within the surfactant self-assembly as well as the micellar geometry. However, because multiple PRMs are used in formulations, significant intermolecular interactions between the PRMs and between the PRMs and the surfactant tail may also influence the location of the PRMs and their effects on the self-assembly. Herein, two anionic/zwitterionic mixed-surfactant systems (sodium trideceth-2 sulfate (ST2S)/cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) and sodium laureth-3 sulfate/CAPB) were formulated with a cosolvent (dipropylene glycol (DPG)) and 12 PRMs of varying structures and lipophilicities. This 12 PRM accord is simpler than a fully formulated perfume but more complex than a single perfume molecule. The geometric variations in the self-assemblies were evaluated using small-angle neutron scattering, perfume head space concentrations were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and perfume localization was identified using NMR spectroscopy. The addition of the perfume accord caused enlargement of the micelles in both surfactant systems, with a greater change observed for ST2S/CAPB formulations. Furthermore, the addition of DPG to ST2S/CAPB resulted in micelle shrinkage. The micelle geometries and PRM localization in the micelles were affected by the degree of branching in the surfactant tail.

Personal care products commonly contain perfume mixtures, consisting of numerous perfume raw materials (PRMs), and cosolvents. Depending on the molecular structures of the additives and surfactants, the geometry of the colloidal structures can be affected.

Contrasting effect of 1-butanol and 1,4-butanediol on the triggered micellar self-assemblies of C16-type cationic surfactants

The self-assembly in aqueous solutions of three quaternary salt-based C₁₆-type cationic surfactants with different polar head groups and identical carbon alkyl chain viz., cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB), cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT), and cetyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (CTPPB) in the presence of 1-butanol (BuOH) and 1,4-butanediol (BTD) was investigated using tensiometry, 2D-nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (2D-NOESY) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) techniques. The adsorption parameters and micellar characteristics evaluated at 303.15 K distinctly showed that BuOH promotes the mixed micelle formation while BTD interfered with the micellization phenomenon. The SANS data fitted using an ellipsoid (as derived by Hayter and Penfold using the Ornstein-Zernike equation and the mean spherical approximation) and wormlike micellar models offered an insight into the micelle size/shape and aggregation number (N_agg) in the examined systems. The evaluated descriptors presented a clear indication of the morphology transition in cationic micelles as induced by the addition of the two alcohols. We also offer an investigation into the acceptable molecular interactions governing the differences in micelle morphologies, using the non-invasive 2D-NOESY technique and molecular modeling. The experimental observations elucidated from computational simulation add novelty to this work. Giving an account to the structural complexity in the three cationic surfactants, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was performed for CPB micelles in an aqueous solution of alcohols that highlighted the micelle solvation and structural transition, which is further complemented in terms of critical packing parameter (PP) for the examined systems.

Effect of residual chemicals on wormlike micelles assembled from a C22-tailed cationic surfactant

HYPOTHESIS

Ultra-long-chain surfactants, particularly C₂₂-tailed ones, have attracted considerable attention because of their ease of self-assembly into wormlike micelles (WLMs). Commercial C₂₂-tailed surfactants often contain non-negligible amounts of chemical residues introduced during their production. Since the noncovalent driving force of wormlike self-assembly can be greatly affected by the composition, we hypothesized that the residual chemicals could play a significant role in tuning the micelle microstructure and macroscopic properties of the surfactants.

EXPERIMENTS

To confirm this hypothesis, a highly pure (>99%) C₂₂-tailed cationic surfactant, N-erucylamidopropyl-N,N,N-trimethylammonium iodide (EDAI) was synthesized, and various amounts of corresponding reactants (iodomethane or N-erucamidopropyl-N,N-dimethylamine) or solvents (acetone) commonly used in surfactant synthesis were introduced as residues. The impact of each individual residue on the macroscopic appearances, rheological properties, and micelle morphology of the surfactant solution were investigated.

FINDINGS

Increasing the residue fraction in the EDAI solution resulted in an initial increase, followed by a dramatic drop in solution viscosity. This behavior was described in terms of micellar structural transformations based on analysis of cryo-TEM observations and surface tension measurements. These findings are of crucial importance in understanding the sophisticated behaviors of WLMs and will benefit the industrial preparation of ultra-long-chain surfactants for commercial use.