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The document discusses surface-active agents (surfactants) and micelle formation. It explains that surfactants are amphiphilic molecules with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts that tend to migrate to interfaces between water and another fluid. This lowers the interfacial tension according to equation 1. Above a critical concentration, surfactants will form spherical micelles in solution where the hydrophobic tails are sequestered inside, leaving the hydrophilic heads exposed to water. The critical micelle concentration can be determined through measurements of properties like conductivity, surface tension, and dye solubilization during titration.

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87 views4 pages

CMC PDF

The document discusses surface-active agents (surfactants) and micelle formation. It explains that surfactants are amphiphilic molecules with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts that tend to migrate to interfaces between water and another fluid. This lowers the interfacial tension according to equation 1. Above a critical concentration, surfactants will form spherical micelles in solution where the hydrophobic tails are sequestered inside, leaving the hydrophilic heads exposed to water. The critical micelle concentration can be determined through measurements of properties like conductivity, surface tension, and dye solubilization during titration.

Uploaded by

Kishore Kishore
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Surface Activity and Micelle Formation

Originally by Dr. Duncan Shaw, 1992, modified by T. Corcoran 2001, 2002

Surface Active Agents (Surfactants)


Substances such as short-chain fatty acids and alchohols are soluble in both water and oil (e.g.
paraffin hydrocarbon) solvents. The hydrocarbon part of the molecule is responsible for its
solubility in oil, while the polar -COOH or -OH group has sufficient affinity for water to drag a
short- length non-polar hydrocarbon chain into aqueous solution with it. If these molecules
become located at an air-water or an oil-water interface, they are able to locate their hydrophilic
(water loving) head groups in the aqueous phase and allow the hydrophobic (water hating)
hydrocarbon chains to escape from the water phase, as illustrated. This situation is energetically
more favourable than complete solution in either phase.

Adsorption of surface-active molecules as an orientated monolayer at air- water and oil-water


interfaces. The circular part of the molecules represents the hydrophilic polar head group and
the zig-zag part represents the non-polar hydrocarbon chain.

The strong adsorption of such materials at surfaces or interfaces in the form of an orientated
monomolecular layer (or monolayer) is termed surface activity. Surface active materials (or
surfactants) consist of molecules containing both polar and non-polar parts (amphiphilic).
Surface activity is a dynamic phenomenon, since the final state of a surface or interface
represents a balance between this tendency towards adsorption and the tendency towards
complete mixing due to the thermal motion of the molecules.

Surface tension of aqueous solutions of alcohols at 20°C


The tendency for surface-active molecules to pack into an interface favours an expansion of the
interface. This must be balanced against the tendency for the interface to contract under normal
surface tension forces. If Π is the expanding pressure (or surface pressure) of an adsorbed layer
of surfactant, then the surface (or interfacial) tension will be lowered to a value
γ = γ0 – Π [1]
The above diagram shows the effect of lower members of the homologous series of normal fatty
alcohols on the surface tension of water. The longer the hydrocarbon chain, the greater is the
tendency for the alcohol molecules to adsorb at the air-water surface and, hence, lower the
surface tension.
If the interfacial tension between two liquids is reduced to a sufficiently low value on addition
of a surfactant, emulsification will readily take place, because only a relatively small increase in
the surface free energy of the system is involved. If the interfacial tension is reduced to close to
zero, a microemulsion will form.
Classification of Surfactants
The hydrophilic part of the most effective soluble surfactants (e.g. soaps, synthetic detergents,
dyestuffs) is often an ionic group. Ions have a strong affinity for water owing to their
electrostatic attraction to the water dipoles and are capable of pulling fairly long hydrocarbon
chains into solution with them; for example, palmitic acid, C16H33COOH, which is virtually
unionised, is insoluble in water, whereas sodium palmitate, which is almost completely ionised,
is soluble.
It is possible to have non-ionic hydrophilic groups which also exhibit a strong affinity for water;
for example, the monomer units in a poly(ethylene oxide) chain each show a modest affinity for
water and the sum effect of several of these units in the polymer chain is an overall strong
affinity for water.
Surfactants are classified as anionic, cationic, non-ionic or ampholytic according to the charge
carried by the surface active part of the molecule. In addition, surfactants are often named in
relation to their technological application; hence names such as detergent, wetting agent,
emulsifier and dispersant.

Surface-Active Agents
Anionic
Sodium stearate CH3(CH3)16COO- Na+
Sodium oleate CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7 COO– Na+
Sodium dodecyl sulphate CH3(CH2)11SO4– Na+
Sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate CH3(CH2)11C6H4SO4– Na+

Catonic
Dodecylamine hydrochloride CH3(CH2)11NH3+Cl–
Hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide CH3(CH2)15N(CH3)3+Br–

Non-ionic
Polyethylene oxides e.g., CH3(CH3)7C6H4(OCH3CH3)5OH
Spans (sorbitan esters)
Tweens (polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters)

Ampholytic
Dodecyl betaine

Thermodynamics of Adsorption: Gibbs Adsorption Equation


The extent of surfactant adsorption at a liquid surface is expressed in terms of its surface excess
concentration, Γ. This is the amount of surfactant present per unit area of surface in excess of
the amount which would be present if uniform surfactant concentration existed right up to the
surface. Surface excess concentration is related to surface tension by the Gibbs equation, which
for a non-ionic surfactant takes the form,
c dγ 1 dγ
Γ=− =− [2a]
RT dc RT d ln c
For a 1-1 ionic surfactant such as sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) this equation must be
modified by a factor of two to allow for the fact that the sodium counter-ions, although
themselves not surface active, also accumulate at the interface, paired off with the dodecyl
sulphate ions.
c dγ 1 dγ
Γ=− =− [2b]
2 RT dc 2 RT d ln c
Knowing Γ, it is easy to calculate the effective area occupied by each adsorbed surfactant
molecule or ion.
Micelle Formation
Solutions of highly surface-active materials often exhibit unusual physical properties. In dilute
solution the surfactant acts as a normal solute (and in the case of ionic surfactants, normal
electrolyte behaviour is observed). At fairly well defined concentrations, however, abrupt
changes in several physical properties, such as osmotic pressure, turbidity, electrical
conductance and surface tension, take place. The rate at which osmotic pressure increases with
concentration becomes abnormally low and the rate of increase of turbidity with concentration
is much enhanced. which suggests that considerable association is taking place. The
conductance of ionic surfactant solutions, however, remains relatively high, which shows that
ionic dissociation is still in force.
This seemingly anomalous behaviour can be explained in terms of organised aggregates, or
micelles, of the surfactant ions in which the hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains are orientated
towards the interior of the micelle, leaving the hydrophilic groups in contact with the aqueous
medium. Except at very high concentrations, micelles are usually spherical in shape as
illustrated below:

Physical properties of sodium dodecyl sulphate solutions at 25 °C Schematic representation of a spherical


anionic micelle

The fairly well defined concentration above which micelle formation becomes appreciable is
termed the critical micelle concentration (c.m.c.).
Micellisation is, therefore, an alternative mechanism to adsorption by which the interfacial
energy of a surfactant solution might decrease.
Critical micelle concentrations can be determined by measuring any micelle-influenced physical
property as a function of concentration. In practice, surface tension, electrical conductivity and
dye solubilisation measurements are the most popular. The choice of physical property will
slightly influence the measured c.m.c., as will the procedure adopted to determine the point of
discontinuity.

Experimental
Make up 100 mL of stock solution of sodium dodecyl sulphate (MM = 288) (aq, approximately
0.02 mol dm–3) using deionised and surfactant-free water. Use a magnetic stirrer to help the
surfactant to dissolve. Do not shake the solution, since it is necessary to minimise foaming. Do
this preparation right at the beginning of the session, since dissolution tends to be slow and time
may be required to allow foam to subside. Placing the solution in a warm water bath (i.e., 45
°C) may help it dissolve, but be sure to let it return to room temp (e.g., place it in a 25 °C bath)
CMC 1: Conductivity measurements: Fill a burette with 50 mL of the SDS stock solution.
Pipette 25.00 mL of distilled water into a beaker (preferably thermostatted, and having a
magnetic stirrer). Measure the conductivity of the initial pure water, and record the initial
burette volume, then add ~1 mL using the burette. Record the conductivity and the burette
volume. Continue adding ~1mL aliquots in this way until you have reached the end of the scale
on the burette.
CMC 2: Surface tension: In a second dry, clean 100 mL beaker again pipette 25.00 mL of
distilled water, and refill the burette with SDS stock solution. This time perform surface tension
measurements on the solution in the beaker, using ~2 mL aliquots until you reach the cmc
(determined above).

Effect of Added Electrolyte on C.M.C.


Remeasure the c.m.c. of sodium dodecyl sulphate at 25 °C, but this time in NaCl solutions.
Prepare 50.00 mL of a stock solution of 0.100 mol L–1 NaCl(aq). Use this to prepare the
solutions in the table below. Pipet the volumes of stock solution shown in the table into 50.00
mL volumetric flasks and dilute to the mark with distilled water.

solution # [NaCl] [SDS] NaCl stock SDS stock


/mol L–1 (approximately) solution /mL solution /mL
1 0.010 0.0120 5.00 30.00
2 0.010 0 5.00 0
3 0.030 0.0080 15.00 20.00
4 0.030 0 15.00 0

Use the same method described above (CMC1 or CMC 2), but this time instead of water in the
beaker, use solution 2, and fill the burette with solution 1 (note both solutions are 0.010 mol L–1
NaCl(aq), therefore [NaCl] remains constant as you add surfactant. Repeat the measurements
using 1 mL aliquots. Then, perform the measurement again using solutions 3 & 4.
Using this data, redetermine the c.m.c. of sodium dodecyl sulphate in the solutions containing
NaCl. Compare your c.m.c. with that in the absence of added electrolyte and suggest a
qualitative explanation.

Other Possibilities
The temperature dependence of the c.m.c. is another possible area to study. Naturally this
requires the ability to adjust the temperature of the samples. This can be arranged if you wish,
discuss it with the instructor.

Processing of Results
Plot graphs of Λ versus c1/2 (CMC 1), or γ versus c, and γ versus ln c (CMC 2).
Determine a value for the c.m.c. (i.e. the concentration at which a discontinuity occurs) in each
case and compare values. Compare your c.m.c. with that in the absence of added electrolyte and
suggest a qualitative explanation, and compare all values to the literature.
If surface tension experiments are performed (CMC 2), use the Gibbs equation to calculate the
surface excess concentration, Γ of SDS at the c.m.c. Hence calculate the average area occupied
by each adsorbed dodecyl sulphate ion at the air-water interface. From your knowledge of bond
lengths, estimate the cross-sectional area of a dodecyl sulphate ion and compare your
experimental area with this value. (Molecular modeling is a useful tool here!)

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