Small angle neutron scattering study of mixed micelles of oppositely charged surfactants

Abstract

Structures of mixed micelles of oppositely charged surfactants dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) have been studied using small angle neutron scattering. The concentration of one of the components was kept fixed (0.3 M) and that of another varied in the range 0 to 0.1 M. The aggregation number and micellar size increase and fractional charge decreases dramatically with the addition of small amount of oppositely charged surfactant. The effect of addition of SDS on DTAB is significantly different from that of the addition of DTAB on SDS. The contrast variation SANS experiments using deuterated surfactant suggests the homogeneous mixing of two components in mixed micellar system.