A Monomer‐Micelle Model for the Formation of Simple Taurocholate Micelles

A kinetic dialysis technique was used to validate a relationship between monomer taurocholate (TC) concentration and total TC concentration in TC solutions containing 0.15 M NaCl and 0.01 M buffer (pH = 7.4). Based on the experimental data and Mukerjee's equations, the number average degree and the weight average degree of TC aggregates were estimated to be nearly the same (～5), indicating that simple TC micelles were the only aggregates. Furthermore, the TC dimer concentration was quantified to be negligible. According to the validated relationship, aggregation number of 5 for simple TC micelles, and the definition of critical micelle concentration (CMC), a modified monomer‐micelle model was used for describing simple TC micelle formation. Moreover, the CMC value was estimated to be ～6.3 mM, which is consistent with the reported value of ～6.0 mM.