Tunable Disassembly of Micelles Using a Redox Trigger

Abstract

A simple design for stimuli-responsive micellar disassembly has been demonstrated on the basis of a surfactant molecule wherein the hydrophilic head group is connected to the hydrophobic tail through a redox-sensitive disulfide linker. The disassembly kinetics is tuned by mixing the stimuli-responsive surfactant with a suitable nonresponsive co-surfactant in various ratios, which helps in gaining control over the release rate of encapsulated dye molecules from such mixed micelles.