(95u) Self-Assembly of Surfactants in Aqueous Solution Modulated by Cyclodextrins and Alkanols

The self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules has already produced, and has great potential to produce in the future, materials and products with unprecedented functionality for biomedical, electronic, catalytic and separation technologies. Central in all applications of self-assembly is our ability to control the molecular organization of the amphiphiles. Motivated by this, we consider the formation and structure of surfactant micelles in aqueous solutions in the presence of molecules that can interact with the surfactant or with the solvent water. In particular, we considered the solutions properties of the ?model? surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in the presence of cyclodextrins (CDs) and alkanols, by means of conductivity measurements. The cavity afforded by α-CD or (2-Hydroxypropyl)-β-CD molecules can accommodate the water-insoluble alkyl part of SDS, forming a supramolecular complex and thus modulating the critical micellization concentration (CMC) at which SDS molecules start to self-assemble. Water-soluble alkanols can affect the surfactant micelle formation and complexation with CDs by both specific (i.e., competition for complexation in the CD cavity) and non-specific (solvent-mediated) interactions.