Issue 107, 2015

1-Hexanol triggered structural characterization of the worm-like micelle to vesicle transitions in cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate solutions

Abstract

The cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate (CTAT) forms highly viscous/viscoelastic solutions and worm-like micelles at relatively low concentrations. The effect of 1-alkanols with short to long alkyl chains viz. ethanol, 1-butanol, 1-hexanol and 1-octanol on CTAT micelles was examined. In particular, a detailed study on the effect of 1-hexanol was carried out by viscosity, cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to observe microstructural changes in CTAT micelles. 1-Hexanol displays a distinct interaction with CTAT micelles strongly dependent on CTAT concentration. Up to a certain critical CTAT concentration, 1-hexanol molecules penetrate into the micelles and show growth. Characterization by direct cryo-TEM imaging implies that upon progressive addition of 1-hexanol, worm-like CTAT micelles first grow and finally transform into vesicles. The course of vesicle formation was followed by SANS measurements. The site of 1-hexanol in the micelles close to the palisade layer was evaluated using 2D NMR. This study devotes a fundamental knowledge for controlling the shape and size of worm-like micelles that find many industrial applications particularly in personal- and home-care products.

Graphical abstract: 1-Hexanol triggered structural characterization of the worm-like micelle to vesicle transitions in cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate solutions

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Jul 2015
Accepted
07 Oct 2015
First published
07 Oct 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 87758-87768

1-Hexanol triggered structural characterization of the worm-like micelle to vesicle transitions in cetyltrimethylammonium tosylate solutions

V. Patel, D. Ray, K. Singh, L. Abezgauz, G. Marangoni, V. K. Aswal and P. Bahadur, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 87758 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA14525B

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