Micellar aggregates of gemini surfactants: Monte Carlo simulation of a microscopic model

¹ Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology , 208016, U.P., India
² Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Cologne, D-50937 Köln, Germany

Received: 28 May 1997
Accepted: 27 November 1997

Abstract

We propose a “microscopic” model of gemini surfactants in aqueous solution. Carrying out Monte Carlo simulations, we study the variation of the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of these model gemini surfactants with the variation of a) the length of the spacer connecting the two hydrophilic heads, b) the length of the hydrophobic tail and c) the bending rigidity of the chains forming the spacer and the tail; some of the trends of variation are counter-intuitive but are in excellent agreement with the available experimental results. Our simulations also elucidate the dependence of the shapes of the micellar aggregates and the magnitude of the CMC on the geometrical shape and size of the surfactant molecules and the electrical charge on the hydrophilic heads.