Determination of the Critical Micelle Concentration of Surfactant in Aqueous Solution by Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer Probe DMABN

With p-N,N-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN) as a probe, the variations of the intensity of its second fluorescence emission (I_a) and the corresponding characteristic wavelength (λ_a) with the surfactant concentration (c), here the examined surfactants (C₁₂TABr, SDS, C₁₂E₂₃, and C₁₂-3-C₁₂·2Br), were measured by Hitachi F4500 fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results showed that both the break points on the I_a–c curve and the minimum of the derivative variation corresponding to the λ_a–c curve agreed very well with the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of the surfactant in aqueous solution as measured by surface tension technique. Due to strong aggregation of C₁₂-3-C₁₂·2Br in aqueous solution, the information about loose micellar structure could be obtained by its λ_a–c curve.