Miscibility of binary surfactant mixtures in the adsorbed film and micelle: the effect of size of polar head group

Interactions in binary mixed systems involving a sugar-based surfactant and different n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromides

In this paper, mixtures of sugar-based decanoyl-N-methylglucamide with three different n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (n=12 (DTAB), 14 (TTAB), and 16 (CTAB)) have been studied using conductance and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. The critical micelle concentration values of pure and mixed systems were determined by both the conductance and the pyrene 1:3 ratio methods. The experimental results were interpreted using thermodynamic mixing approaches based on the pseudophase separation model. These analyses allowed us to determine the interaction parameters and the composition of the mixed micelles through the whole composition range. Since all the ionic surfactants used in this study have the same headgroup, the differences observed between the three mixed systems were attributed to the lengths of their hydrocarbon chains. It was established that, besides interactions of electrostatic character, additional short-range interactions must be considered. By using the static quenching method, the mean micellar aggregation numbers of mixed micelles were obtained. In the cases of the mixed systems with DTAB and TTAB it was observed that the aggregation number is initially reduced with the participation of the ionic component, remaining almost constant and close to the aggregation number of the pure ionic micelle. However, in the systems involving CTAB it is observed that the size of micelles initially increases and then decreases slightly for mixtures with a high content of the ionic component. The hydrophobic index pyrene 1:3 ratio was used to examine possible changes in the micellar micropolarity; however, no definitive conclusions could be derived from these experiments. In order to study the evolution of the local viscosity of the mixed micelles upon addition of the ionic surfactant, fluorescence polarization measurements were carried out with two different probes, fluorescein and coumarin 6. It was found that the participation of the ionic component in the mixed micelle induces the formation of less ordered structure than that of pure nonionic micelles. An attempt was made to correlate these effects with the interaction parameters obtained from the theoretical mixing model and, consequently, with the alkyl chain length of the ionic components.

Selective determination of surface density of bromide ion through XAFS and its application to verification of a criterion of an ideal mixing of surfactant mixture

The mole fraction of chloride ion of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) mixture in the adsorbed film XHC was estimated not only by the thermodynamic analysis of the surface tension data but also by analyzing the Br K-edge jump of the XAFS spectrum under the total reflection condition (TRXAFS method). The phase diagrams of adsorption (PDA) at several surface tensions from the two methods were in good agreement. On the basis of the PDA obtained, it was clearly shown that the criterion of an ideal mixing for the DTAB-DTAC system is not given by the linear relation between the total molality of surfactant mixture m and XHC, m = m0B + (m0C - m0B)XHC, but by the one between m2 and XHC, m2 = (m0B)2 + [(m0C)2 - (m0B)2]XHC. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the theoretical approach that provides the latter relation draws a distinction between the criteria for an ionic surfactant mixture without a common ion and that for an ionic surfactant mixture with a common ion.

Study of mixtures of n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside with anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactant in aqueous solutions using surface tension and fluorescence techniques

Surfactants of practical interest are invariably mixtures of different types. In this study, mixtures of sugar-based n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside with cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, anionic sodium dodecylsulfate, and nonionic pentaethyleneglycol monododecyl ether in solution, with and without supporting electrolyte, have been studied using surface tension and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. Interaction parameters and mole fraction of components in mixed micelles were calculated using regular solution theory. The magnitude of interactions between n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and other surfactants followed the order anionic/nonionic > cationic/nonionic > nonionic/nonionic mixtures. Since all surfactants have the same hydrophobic groups, strengths of interactions are attributed to the structures of hydrophilic headgroups. Electrolyte reduced synergism between n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and ionic surfactant due to charge neutralization. Industrial sugar-based surfactant, dodecyl polyglucoside, yielded results similar to that with dodecyl maltoside, implying that tested commercial alkyl polyglucosides are similar to the pure laboratory samples in synergistic interactions with other surfactants. Fluorescence study not only supported the cmc results using tensiometry, but showed that interfaces of all the above mixed micelle/solution interfaces are mildly hydrophobic. Based on these results, an attempt is made to discover the nature of interactions to be a combination of intermolecular potential energies and free energy due to packing of surfactant molecules in micelles.