SOLUBILIZATION IN MIXED REVERSE MICELLAR SYSTEMS OF AOT/NONIONIC SURFACTANTS/n-HEPTANE

Solubilization of water and aqueous NaCl solutions in mixed reverse micellar systems of anionic surfactant AOT and nonionic surfactants in n-heptane was studied. It was found that the maximum solubilization capacity of water was higher in the presence of certain concentrations of NaCl electrolyte, and these concentrations increased with the increase of nonionic surfactant content and their EO chain length. Soluibilization capacity was enhanced by mixing AOT with nonionic surfactants. The observed phenomena were interpreted in terms of the stability of the interfacial film of reverse micellar microdroplet and the packing parameter of the surfactant that formed mixed reverse micelles.