On the effects of head-group volume on the adsorption and aggregation of 1-(n-hexadecyl)-3-Cm-imidazolium bromide and chloride surfactants in aqueous solutions

The effects of the length of alkyl side chain (Cm) of ionic liquid-based surfactants (ILBSs) on their adsorption at the water/air interface, and aggregation in aqueous solutions were investigated for the series 1-(n-hexadecyl)-3-Cm-imidazolium bromides and chlorides, where Cm = C1-C4 for the bromides, and C1-C5 for the chlorides. These physicochemical properties were calculated from surface tension, conductivity, and fluorescence data. It was found that increasing the length of Cm (i.e., volume of the head group) leads to enhancement of surface activity, increase in the area per surfactant molecule at the water/air interface (Amin) and the degree of counter-ion dissociation (αmic). Our data also indicated that increasing the volume of the head group results in a decrease of the critical micelle concentration (cmc), Gibb's free energy of adsorption and micellization, and microscopic polarity of interfacial water. In order to delineate the effects of the presence of unsaturation in the HG, we included members that carry Cm = vinyl and allyl in the bromide series. The effect of these groups was found to be similar to removing a methylene group from Cm. The dependence of the solubilization of a lipophilic dye (Sudan IV) and a drug (nitrendipine) on the length of Cm was also studied.