Intrinsic viscosity of polyoxyethylene alkyl ether Cie j micelles

Abstract

Micelles of pentaoxyethylene C12E5, hexaoxyethylene C12E6, hepatoxyethylene dodecyl ethers C 12E7, and heptaoxyethylene tetradecyl ether C 14E7 in dilute aqueous solutions were characterized by viscometry. The intrinsic viscosity [η] of the micelles whose size are concentration-dependent were able to be determined at finite concentrations by applying an equation derived by combining the Huggins and Fuoss-Mead equations. The results of [η] as a function of the molar mass of the micelle were successfully analyzed by the hydrodynamic theory for wormlike polymers formulated with the touched bead model, indicating that the micelles assume a flexible cylindrical shape. The values of the cross-sectional diameter d have suggested that the surfactant molecules take a randomly coiled form in the micelles.