Solubilization properties of aqueous solutions of alkyltrimethylammonium halides toward a water-insoluble dye

The solubility of a water-insoluble dye, Sudan Red B, in aqueous sodium halide solutions of tetradecyl-, cetyl-, and stearyltrimethylammonium halides has been measured at different surfactant and salt concentrations, and the dependence of solubilization properties on alkyl chain length has been discussed with reference to the micelle size and shape. At low ionic strengths where only spherical micelles exist, the solubilization power of micellar surfactant slightly increases with increasing the ionic strength, but it sharply increases at high ionic strengths above the threshold value of sphere-rod transition. However, the solubilization power becomes independent of the ionic strength, if their rodlike micelles are sufficiently long. The solubilization capacity increases linearly with increasing the molecular weight, almost independent of counterion species, but the rod-like micelle has a higher solubilization capacity than the spherical micelle. The solubilization capacity is larger for a surfactant with longer alkyl chain, indicating that the dye is solubilized more readily in a larger hydrophobic core. The solubilized dye is situated in a rodlike micelle of alkyltrimethylammonium halides, on average, 4.5–7.5 nm apart from each other.