A theoretical study of the effect of long-chain aliphatic alcohols on the stability of surfactant micelles

Employing the theoretical approach and computational methods described previously [9], calculations have been made on the two-dimensional size/composition distribution of spherical micelles composed of sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS) and dodecylalcohol (DOH) monomers. These calculations show fair agreement with experimental CMC and solubilization capacity results. For rod-shaped micelles our calculations indicate that the critical condition for the formation of rods, i.e. β=0, where βkT is the difference in molecular free energy per SDS/DOH unit between the middle part of the micelle and the solution, is approached at significantly lower salt concentrations upon raising the DOH/SDS ratio.