The aggregation of the sodium dodecyl sulfate –n - octanol–water system at low concentration

Abstract

Micelle formation in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)–n-octanol mixtures was studied by several techniques and the results were interpreted using regular solution theory for mixed-micelle formation. Octanol was considered as a nonionic surfactant. The composition of micelles at the critical micelle concentration (cmc) was computed together with the interaction parameter and the activity coefficient of the components of the micelles. The fluorescence quenching technique with pyrene was employed to obtain the SDS and octanol aggregation numbers at the cmc. The results were in agreement with similar studies on other alcohol–SDS systems. At the cmc spherical, almost fully ionized micelles formed, while at a higher concentration there was a transition to anisometric (probably rodlike) micelles which pushed sodium counterions into their Stern double layer. Mixed anisometric micelles were more ionized than pure SDS micelles. When the octanol:SDS total ratio exceeded 0.85:1, an emulsion of octanol appeared in equilibrium with the micelles.