Polymers, Surfactants, and Solubilization

As will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 16, a useful characteristic of many micellar systems is their ability to solubilize otherwise water-insoluble materials such as hydrocarbons, dyes, flavors, or fragrances. Some surfactant-polymer complexes have been shown to solubilize materials at surfactant concentrations well below the cmc of the surfactant in the absence of polymer. The effectiveness of such complexes differs quantitatively from that of conventional micelles. 

In many instances it is found that complexes of surfactant with polymer solubilize various materials at lower total surfactant concentrations and have a greater solubilizing capacity (e.g., solubilized molecules per molecule of surfactant) than a surfactant solution alone. Unfortunately, our present state of knowledge in this area is not sufficient to allow quantitative predictions about the potential solubilizing properties of surfactant-polymer complexes based solely on chemical composition, although it is known that the effectiveness of a given combination depends on the nature of the polymeric component and the polymer surfactant ratio. 

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