Critical micelle concentration cationic surfactant binding

The fluorescent probe 4-aminophthalimide (63) was employed by several authors to study micelles. Samanta and coworkers187,188 used it to study micellization of common cationic (SDS), anionic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) and neutral (Triton-X 100) aqueous surfactants, and the same systems were also studied by Datta, Mandal and coworkers189 19°. The critical micelle concentration could be determined and it was found that the probe binds to the micelle water interface or to the cyclodextrin cavities that have also been studied187,188. Water-in-oil microemulsions of Triton-X 100 in a mixture of benzene and hexane showed190 the probe to reside in the water core of the reversed micelles, the polarity of which differs much from that of bulk water. 

The cationic charge on a polymer affects its behavior considerably when surfactants are included in formulations. Cationic polymers (a member of the broader class of polymers termed polyelectrolytes) usually interact strongly with anionic surfactants, weakly with cationic surfactants, and unpredictably with nonionic and amphoteric surfactants (14,167-169). Anionic surfactant binds to cationic polymers at concentrations well below the critical micelle concentration (cmc). The low surfactant concentration where polymer and surfactant begin to interact is known as the critical aggregation concentration (cag). 

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