A Simple Method for Determining the Critical Micellar Concentration of a Surfactant

This paper will present a simple method for critical micellar concentration (cmc) determination based on light scattering using a turbidimeter. The method does not require the optical clarification of the surfactant solution. The surfactant solutions were prepared from distilled water after boiling. Distinct cmc values were observed for polyoxyethylene mono n-dodecylether, sodium taurodeoxycholate and sodium dodecyl sulfate. The cmc values obtained using the turbidity method were compared with cmc values obtained by the surface tension method and with data given in the literature. Values obtained by our simple method have comparable accuracy with data obtained from more elaborate experiments.