Experimental Data and Aggregation Numbers

Up to now, none of the models for polysoap micelles can be definitively confirmed or rejected. Perhaps there exists more than a single structure depending on the molecular architecture of the polysoaps employed. More experiments will be needed to resolve this problem. 

Fluorescence quenching studies are interpreted to support the model of the local micelle , as aggregation numbers well below the degrees of polymerization studied were measured [103, 104, 186, 196, 215, 224, 225, 292]. The presence of regional micelles would be consistent with the data, too. The combination of viscosimetric and solubilization experiments [78], potentio-metric titrations [180, 181] and neutron scattering studies [190-191] also support the local micelle or the regional micelle models. 

Potentiometric titrations give comparable aggregation numbers as obtained by TRFQ. The significance of the numbers obtained however may be questioned as larger aggregation numbers have been found for shorter hydrophobic tails [180, 181]. 

In contrast to the above discussion, theoretical treatments favour the model of the molecular micelle [195, 207]. At least an analogue to the latter has been realized recently in some dendrimers, arborols (Fig. 35) and hypercrosslinked polymers, replacing the self-organization of hydrophobic moieties by covalent bonding [41-45], 

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