SANS study of micellar aggregation of multi-headed surfactants

Abstract

We report the aggregation properties of recently synthesised novel single-chain surfactants bearing one, two and three head groups. Small-angle neutron-scattering studies in aqueous solutions of these surfactants indicate that the extent of aggregate growth of these micelles dramatically decreases with the increase in the number of head groups. It is also seen that, unlike single-headed surfactants where the micelles grow on addition of salts (KBr and sodium salicylate), the sizes of the micelles of multi-head-group surfactants are independent of these additives. These studies show that the micellar properties of surfactants could be remarkably influenced by manipulation of the charge densities at the head groups.