Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Engineering a Bilayered Hydrogel to Control ASC Differentiation
Published on: May 25, 2012
Aggregate formation in aqueous solutions of carboxymethylcellulose and cationic surfactants
Siwar Trabelsi1, Eric Raspaud, Dominique Langevin
1Laboratoire de Physique des Solides, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 510, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
Abstract:
The addition of cationic surfactants to an aqueous solution of an anionic polymer, carboxymethylcellulose (carboxyMC), causes the spontaneous formation of aggregates in a certain range of concentrations. Here we studied two surfactants, dodecyl and hexadecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB and CTAB, respectively). Using different techniques (light scattering, potentiometry, viscosimetry, and zetametry), we found that a simple lengthening of the surfactant tail length by four CH2 groups drastically changes the aggregate morphology, size, and charge. We explored in detail how the surfactant and polymer concentrations act on these systems.
Related Concept Videos
Micelles
Surface Active Agents
Colloids
Colloidal precipitates
Solubility
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules, atoms, and/or ions)...
Factors Affecting Solubility

