Interactions Between the Cationic Surfactants Bearing Different Polar Head Groups: Interfacial, Conductivity, NMR, and Fluorescence Studies

Interfacial tension (γ), conductivity (κ), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and fluorescence measurements have been carried out to study the mixed interfacial and micellar behavior of cationic surfactants cetyltributylphosphonium bromide (CTBB) and the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). From the γ versus log C _s plots, the values of critical micellar concentration (cmc) and various interfacial parameters were computed. From κ measurements, the equivalent conductivities of the monomers (Λ _mon), the micelles (Λ _mic) states and the degree of counterion dissociation (δ) have been evaluated. The cmc values have been analyzed in the context of the pseudophase separation model and regular solution theory. The interaction parameters, β^m and β^σ, in the mixed micelle as well as in the mixed monolayer, respectively, also have been computed. The self‐diffusion coefficients for the micelles have been evaluated by using NMR spectroscopy. From the fluorescence quenching method, the mean micellar aggregation number (N _agg) of the pure and mixed micelles has been obtained from the slope of the ratio of fluorescence intensities in the absence and in the presence of quencher (ln (I _1,0/I ₁) versus [Q] plots. It was found that the incorporation of CTBB into the mixed micelle decreases the N _agg. The microviscosity of the fluorescence probe Rhodamine (RB) was monitored by using fluorescence polarization measurements. The values of fluorescence anisotropies (r) indicate that the penetration of CTBB monomer into CTAB micelles produced less rigid mixed micelles.

Keywords:

• Interfacial tension
• conductivity
• NMR
• fluorescence behaviors
• mixed micelles

Acknowledgments

P. S. is thankful Monbusho fellowship for the financial support for this work. P. S. also thanks JSPS for a postdoctoral award for two years. P. S. is grateful to Prof. D. E. Otzen and Dr. K. L. Larsen from Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark for fluorescience anisotropy and viscosity measurements: respectively.