By using surface tension and conductivity measurements, the colloid-chemical properties of the mixtures of cationic hexadecylpyridinium bromide with nonionic Triton X-100 surfactants were investigated both in the bulk solution and at air/solution interface at different pH values. The composition of mixed micelles and adsorption layers, parameters of molecular interactions in mixed micelles βm and adsorption layers βσ, as well as standard free energies of micelle formation ΔG0mic and adsorption ΔG0ads were calculated. It was found that molecules of the nonionic surfactant presumably dominate in the mixed micelles and adsorption layers. It was shown that βm and βσ have negative values, which indicate the strengthening of intermolecular interactions in the mixed micelles and adsorption layers. Based on the data obtained, it was suggested that ion-dipole interactions are involved in the formation of intermolecular structures between nonionic and cationic surfactants in aqueous solution and at the air-solution interface. It was shown that βm, βσ as well as ΔG0mic and ΔG0ads parameter depends on the solution pH value. The complex interplay of ion-dipole, protonation and chelation processes, which occur in the surfactant mixtures at different pH and affect the strength of intermolecular interaction, should be taken into account for data analysis.
Molecular Interactions in Binary Surfactant Solutions: Effect of pH
