Incorporating intermicellar interactions in the fitting of SANS data from cationic wormlike micelles

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) from cationic wormlike micellar solutions composed of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) and hexadecylpyridinium bromide (CPyBr) in deuterated water was studied at 40 degrees C as a function of surfactant and salt concentrations. Two scattering functions of semiflexible chains incorporating excluded volume effects, with and without the intermicellar interactions, were used in SANS data model fitting. Two needed changes were made in the well-accepted models. Extensive and systematic SANS data analysis suggests the robustness of these corrected scattering functions when the intermicellar interactions are included. The influence of the headgroups and ionic strength on the contour length and micellar flexibility of these two systems was demonstrated on the basis of the quantitative structural information obtained from the model fitting. Micellar flexibility was found to depend on surfactant concentration, even when intermicellar interactions were taken into account, despite predictions to the contrary.