Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Extraction and Characterization of Surfactants from Atmospheric Aerosols
Published on: April 21, 2017
Determination of aggregation thresholds of UV absorbing anionic surfactants by frontal analysis continuous capillary
Thomas Le Saux1, Anne Varenne, Pierre Gareil
1Laboratoire d'Electrochimie et Chimie Analytique, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris, UMR CNRS 7575, 11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, F-75231 Paris 5, France.
Abstract:
Aggregation of anionic surfactants was investigated by frontal analysis continuous capillary electrophoresis (FACCE), a method involving the continuous electrokinetic introduction of the surfactant sample into the separation capillary. This process results in a partial separation of the monomeric and aggregated forms without perturbing the monomer-aggregate equilibrium. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) can then be easily derived from the height of the firstly detected migration front, corresponding to the monomeric form. This approach is exemplified with octyl and dodecylbenzenesulfonates and compared with conductimetry and surface tension measurements. FACCE turns out to be an effective method for the determination of CMC and intermediate aggregation phenomena with very small sample and short time requirements.
Related Concept Videos
Capillary Electrophoresis: Applications
Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) separates ionic components based on their electrophoretic mobility. It has been used to separate proteins, amino acids,...
Surface Active Agents
Electrophoresis: Overview
There...
Size-Exclusion Chromatography
Silica particles offer advantages such as rigidity,...
Precipitation Titration: Endpoint Detection Methods
In the Volhard method, a standard excess of AgNO3 is first added to the...
