Micellization of monomeric and dimeric (gemini) surfactants in polar nonaqueous-water-mixed solvents

Dimeric or gemini surfactants are novel surfactants that are finding a great deal of discussion in the academic and industrial arena. They consist of two hydrophobic chains and two polar head groups covalently linked by a spacer. Data on critical micelle concentration (cmc) and degree of counterion dissociation (α) are reported on bis-cationic C₁₆H₃₃N⁺(CH₃)₂–(CH₂)_s–N⁺(CH₃)₂C₁₆H₃₃, 2Br⁻, referred to as 16-s-16, for spacer lengths s=4, 5, 6 in aqueous and in polar nonaqueous (1-propanol, 2-methoxyethanol or methyl cellosolve, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile)-water-mixed solvents. The behavior is compared with conventional monomeric surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Thermodynamic parameters are obtained from the temperature dependence of the cmc values. It is observed that micellization tendency of the surfactants decreases in the presence of polar nonaqueous solvents. However, detailed studies with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) show that the geminis nearly outclass the micellization-arresting property of this solvent. Also, within geminis, higher spacer length is found suitable for showing micellization even with high DMSO content (50% v/v). The implications of these results of gemini micellization may be useful in micellar catalysis in polar nonaqueous solvents.