Micellar association solution behavior

Disperse systems can also be classified on the basis of their aggregation behavior as molecular or micellar (association) systems. Molecular dispersions are composed of single macromolecules distributed uniformly within the medium, e.g., protein and polymer solutions. In micellar systems, the units of the dispersed phase consist of several molecules, which arrange themselves to form aggregates, such as surfactant micelles in aqueous solutions. 

The characteristics of the water pool of reverse micelles has been explored by H, 23Na, 13C, 3IP-NMR spectroscopy. Since the initial association process in RMs is not totally understood, and because of the low CMC, aggregation studies from NMR are rather scarce. Direct determination of a CMC in the diethyl hexyl phosphate /water/benzene system (at Wo = 3.5) was possible because the chemical shift of 31P in phosphate groups is very sensitive to hydration effects. The structure and state of water in RMs and particularly at low water content has received considerable attention. The proton chemical shifts have been explored in AOT/water/heptane, methanol, chloroform, isooctane and cyclohexanone. The water behavior in small reverse micelles is close to that of the corresponding bulk ionic solution. Until now, the effect of a solute on micellar structure was not well... 

In order to investigate the unimolecular micellar behavior of the water-soluble, lithium salt of polycarboxylic acid 4, the NMR spectrum of 4 in the presence of an NaOAc/ H20 solution of p-toluidine was recorded. Absorptions associated with the guest molecule ) shifted upfield and were dramatically broadened. 

Surfactant molecules commonly self-assemble in water (or in oil). Even single-surfactant systems can display a quite remarkably rich variety of structures when parameters such as water content or temperature are varied. In dilute solution they form an isotropic solution phase consisting of micellar aggregates. At more concentrated surfactant-solvent systems, several isotropic and anisotropic liquid crystalline phases will be formed [2]. The phase behavior becomes even more intricate if an oil (such as an alkane or fluorinated hydrocarbon) is added to a water-surfactant binary system and the more so if other components (such as another surfactant or an alcohol) are also included [3], In such systems, emulsions, microemulsions, and lyotropic mesophases with different geometries may be formed. Indeed, the ability to form such association colloids is the feature that singles out surfactants within the broader group of amphiphiles [4]. No wonder surfactants phase behavior and microstructures have been the subject of intense and profound investigation over the course of recent decades. 

The generalization that antifoams must be present as undissolved entities has, however, occasionally been challenged [6,9,10]. A number of authors in fact report experimental results that purport to show antifoam effects due to additives that are solubilized in the foaming solution [11-13]. Thus, Ross and Haak [11], for example, identify two types of antifoam behavior associated with the effect of oils like tributyl phosphate and methyl isobutyl carbinol on the foam behavior of aqueous micellar solutions of surfactants such as sodium dodecylsulfate and sodium oleate. Wherever the oil concentration exceeds the solubility limit, emulsified drops of oil contribute to an effective antifoam action. However, it is claimed [11,14] that a weak antifoam effect is associated with the presence of such oils even when solubilized in micelles. The consequences of all this behavior are revealed if, for example, tributyl phosphate is added to micellar solutions of sodium oleate [11] at concentrations below the solubilization limit. A marked decrease in foamability is found immediately after dispersing the oil. As the oil becomes slowly solubilized, the foamability increases. However, even after the oil is completely solubilized, the foamability is still apparently less than that intrinsic to the uncontaminated surfactant solution [11]. By contrast, Arnaudov et al. [7] have more recently shown that the significant antifoam effect of n-heptanol on aqueous micellar solutions of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (in the presence of NaCl) is almost completely eliminated after solubilization. 

We exemplify here the precipitation behavior of DNA with the addition of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) [36]. This is a surfactant with a relatively short alkyl chain, which allows for a rather fast equilibration of the samples also this surfactant forms a micellar solution up to relatively high surfactant concentrations [37]. Figure 10.5a shows a schematic representation of the ternary phase diagram. As expected, the aqueous mixture of DNA and cationic surfactant phase separates associatively into one dilute phase and one phase concentrated in both polyelectrolyte and surfactant, a precipitate. The electrostatic interactions... 

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