Structural Behavior of Aggregate Assemblies of Cationic Surfactants and Their Mixtures with Triblock Polymers

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique has been employed to study the structural aspects of micellar system of cationic surfactants viz. alkyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (C₁₂-, C₁₄-, C₁₆TPB) and hexadecylpyridinium chloride (C₁₆PyCl) with triblock polymers (L64, F68, and F127). SANS data analysis reveals the prolate ellipsoidal shape of mixed micelles and increase in the micellar size upon addition of triblock polymers (L64, F68, and F127). The influence of effective size of the head group segment on the growth of micelles of HTPB (larger head group) has also been compared with that of HPyCl (smaller head group). A proportionate micellar growth of cationic surfactants has been found with increase in the length of tail segment of cationic surfactants. The observed mixed micellar growth in mixed systems is also accounted on the basis of simultaneous increase in the hydrophobicity of both the components in the mixed system. Results from the present study enlightened the effect of variation in head group segment and hydrophobicity on the structural aspects of mixed micellar system.