Critical micelle concentration, effect

Area ( s) Occupied by a Surfactant Molecule at a Polystyrene-Water Interface at the Critical Micelle Concentration Effect of Alkyl Chain Length... 

One reason for widespread interest in the use of surfactants as gas mobihty control agents is the effectiveness at concentrations of <0.1 wt % (156,163). Some surfactants are effective below their critical micelle concentration (164). This low chemical requirement can significantly improve process economics. 

Anionic Surfactants. PVP also interacts with anionic detergents, another class of large anions (108). This interaction has generated considerable interest because addition of PVP results in the formation of micelles at lower concentration than the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the free surfactant the mechanism is described as a "necklace" of hemimicelles along the polymer chain, the hemimicelles being surrounded to some extent with PVP (109). The effective lowering of the CMC increases the surfactant s apparent activity at interfaces. PVP will increase foaming of anionic surfactants for this reason. 

MeutralSoluble Salts. So dium sulfate [7757-82-6] and, to a considerably lesser extent, sodium chloride [7647-14-5] are the principal neutral soluble salts used in laundering compositions. They are often considered to be fillers although they perform an important standardizing function enabling the formulator to manufacture powders of a desired, controlled density. Sodium sulfate, in addition, lowers the critical micelle concentration of organic surfactants and thus the concentration at which effective washing can be achieved. 

Surfactants lower the surface tension of water, typically from 72 to ca 30—35 mN/m (= dyn/cm), and many surfactants have a strong effect on the contact angle when used at low concentrations. Both changes help dewatering. Too much surfactant, near or above the critical micelle concentration... 

K is K, just below the collectors critical micelle concentration, C,. Ko is Ki at some higher cohector concentration, C,. E is the relative effectiveness, in adsorbing cohigend, of surface cohector versus micehar collector. Generally, E > 1. F, is the surface excess of collector. More about each K is avahable [Lemhch, Adsubble Methods, in Li (ed.). Recent Developments in Separation Science, vol. 1, CRC Press, Cleveland, 1972, pp. 113-127 Jashnani and Lemlich, Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Dev., 12, 312 (1973)]. 

For an a-helical fraction fH = 0,5 30% methanol, 20% ethanol, 15% i-propanol or 10% trifluoroethanol are necessary. Trifluoroethanol like perfluorinated alcohols, e.g. hexafluoroisopropanol is characterised on the hand by a strong acidic proton at the OG-group due to the —1-effect of the fluor atoms. On the other hand fluorocarbons are more hydrophobic than the hydrocarbons which is mainly due to the larger surface of the F compared with H. For this reason the critical micelle concentration of perfluorinated detergents is much lower than that of the corresponding hydrocarbon compounds. It was found that C4F7-derivatives act as detergents... 

In the latter function, the reagent behaves as a surfactant and forms a cationic micelle at a concentration above the critical micelle concentration (1 x 10 4M for CTMB). The complexation reactions occurring on the surface of the micelles differ from those in simple aqueous solution and result in the formation of a complex of higher ligand to metal ratio than in the simple aqueous system this effect is usually accompanied by a substantial increase in molar absorptivity of the metal complex. 

Very large solvent effects arc also observed for systems where the monomers can aggregate either with themselves or another species. For example, the apparent kp for polymerizable surfactants, such as certain vinyl pyridinium salts and alkyl salts of dimethylaminoalkyl methacrylates, in aqueous solution above the critical micelle concentration (cmc) are dramatically higher than they are below the cmc in water or in non-aqueous media.77 This docs not mean that the value for the kp is higher. The heterogeneity of the medium needs to be considered. In the micellar system, the effective concentration of double bonds in the vicinity of the... 

If the coupling component is not ionic, however, more dramatic effects occur, as found by Hashida et al. (1979) and by Tentorio et al. (1985). Hashida used N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)aniline, while Tentorio and coworkers took 1-naphthylamine and l-amino-2-methylnaphthalene as coupling components. With cationic arenediazo-nium salts and addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), rate increases up to 1100-fold were measured in cases where the surfactant concentration was higher than the critical micelle concentration (cmc). Under the same conditions the reaction... 

Figure 20 shows the plot of the surface tension vs. the logarithm of the concentration (or-lg c-isotherms) of sodium alkanesulfonates C,0-C15 at 45°C. In accordance with the general behavior of surfactants, the interfacial activity increases with growing chain length. The critical micelle concentration (cM) is shifted to lower concentration values. The typical surface tension at cM is between 38 and 33 mN/m. The ammonium alkanesulfonates show similar behavior, though their solubility is much better. The impact of the counterions is twofold First, a more polarizable counterion lowers the cM value (Fig. 21), while the aggregation number of the micelles rises. Second, polarizable and hydrophobic counterions, such as n-propyl- or isopropylammonium and n-butylammonium ions, enhance the interfacial activity as well (Fig. 22). Hydrophilic counterions such as 2-hydroxyethylammonium have the opposite effect. Table 14 summarizes some data for the dodecane 1-sulfonates.

Schulze [51] described an extensive study on C12-C14 ether carboxylic acid sodium salt (4.5 mol EO) in terms of surface tension, critical micelle concentration (CMC), wetting, detergency, foam, hardness stability, and lime soap dispersing properties. He found good detergent effect compared to the etho-xylated C16-C18 fatty alcohol (25 mol EO) independent of CaCl2 concentration, there was excellent soil suspending power, low surface tension, and fewer Ca deposits than with alkylbenzenesulfonate. 

As an even more explicit example of this effect Figure 6 shows that EPM is able to reproduce fairly well the experimentally observed dependence of the particle number on surfactant concentration for a different monomer, namely methyl methacrylate (MMA). The polymerization was carried at 80°C at a fixed concentration of ammonium persulfate initiator (0.00635 mol dm 3). Because methyl methacrylate is much more water soluble than styrene, the drop off in particle number is not as steep around the critical micelle concentration (22.) In this instance the experimental data do show a leveling off of the particle number at high and low surfactant concentrations as expected from the theory of particle formation by coagulative nucleation of precursor particles formed by homogeneous nucleation, which has been incorporated into EPM. 

Surfactants greatly improve the performance of trans-cinnamaldehyde as a corrosion inhibitor for steel in HCl [741,1590,1591]. They act by enhancing the adsorption at the surface. Increased solubility or dispersibility of the inhibitor is an incidental effect. N-dodecylpyridinium bromide is effective in this aspect far below its critical micelle concentration, probably as a result of electrostatic adsorption of the monomeric form of N-dodecylpyridinium bromide. This leads to the formation of a hydrophobic monolayer, which attracts the inhibitor. On the other hand, an ethoxylated nonylphenol, a nonionic surfactant, acts by incorporating the inhibitor into micelles, which themselves adsorb on the steel surface and facilitate the adsorption of trans-cinnamaldehyde. 

Surfactants, not surprisingly, exert a highly significant influence on the fluorescence of FBAs in solution. This effect is associated with the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant and may be regarded as a special type of solvent effect. Anionic surfactants have almost no influence on the performance of anionic FBAs on cotton, but nonionic surfactants may exert either positive or negative effects on the whiteness of the treated substrate [33]. Cationic surfactants would be expected to have a negative influence, but this is not always so [34]. No general rule can be formulated and each case has to be considered separately. 

A similar multiphase complication that should be kept in mind when discussing solutions at finite concentrations is possible micelle formation. It is well known that for many organic solutes in water, when the concentration exceeds a certain solute-dependent value, called the critical micelle concentration (cmc), the solute molecules are not distributed in a random uncorrelated way but rather aggregate into units (micelles) in which their distances of separation and orientations with respect to each other and to solvent molecules have strong correlations. Micelle formation, if it occurs, will clearly have a major effect on the apparent activity coefficient but the observation of the phenomenon requires more sophisticated analytical techniques than observation of, say, liquid-liquid phase separation. 

What characterizes surfactants is their ability to adsorb onto surfaces and to modify the surface properties. At the gas/liquid interface this leads to a reduction in surface tension. Fig. 4.1 shows the dependence of surface tension on the concentration for different surfactant types [39]. It is obvious from this figure that the nonionic surfactants have a lower surface tension for the same alkyl chain length and concentration than the ionic surfactants. The second effect which can be seen from Fig. 4.1 is the discontinuity of the surface tension-concentration curves with a constant value for the surface tension above this point. The breakpoint of the curves can be correlated to the critical micelle concentration (cmc) above which the formation of micellar aggregates can be observed in the bulk phase. These micelles are characteristic for the ability of surfactants to solubilize hydrophobic substances in aqueous solution. So the concentration of surfactant in the washing liquor has at least to be right above the cmc. 

The solubility in polyethylene glycol 400 and in aqueous solution of other polyethylene glycols has been described.65-66 The effect of selected surfactants above and below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) on aspirin solubility67 was studied. 

We call the centre of the concentration range the critical micelle concentration (CMC). As an over-simplification, we say the solution has no colloidal micelles below the CMC, but effectively all the monomer exists as micelles above the CMC. As no micelles exist below the CMC, a solution of monomer is clear - like the solution of dilute soap in the bath. But above the CMC, micelles form in solution and impart a turbid aspect owing to Tyndall light scattering. This latter situation corresponds to washing the face in a sink. 

Surfactants that form micelles have also been shown to accelerate the formation of nitrosamlnes from amines and nitrite (33.) A rate enhancement of up to 80 0-fold was observed for the nitrosation of dihexylamine by nitrite in the presence of the cationic surfactant decyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) at pH 3.5. A critical micelle concentration (CMC) of 0.08% of DTAB was required to cause this effect, which was attributed to a micelle with the hydrocarbon chains buried in the interior of the micelle. The positively-charged ends of the micelle would then cause an aggregation of free nitrosatable amine relative to protonated amine and thus lead to rate enhancements. Since surfactants are commonly used in water-based fluids (25-50% lubricating agent or 10-2 0% emulsifier in concentrates), concentrations above the CMC of a micelle-forming surfactant could enhance the formation of nitrosamines. 

An interesting extension of aqueous solution radiolysis involved solutions of sodium dodecyl sulphate in the presence of MNP. Spin adducts of secondary alkyl radicals were detected provided that the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant was exceeded. Whilst it was rather loosely concluded that there is a marked catalytic effect of micelles on the rates of reaction of radicals with nitroso spin traps , no single origin of this effect could be clearly identified (Bakalik and Thomas, 1977). 

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