Aggregation and adsorption properties of sodium dodecyl sulfate in water-acetamide mixtures

The critical micelle concentration (cmc) of sodium dodecyl sulfate was determined in water + acetamide media from 0 to 70 wt% of acetamide and at temperatures in the range from 20 to 40 degrees C by using conductance, surface tension, and fluorescence methods. The cmc increases with increase in acetamide concentration and the reported [M.S. Akhter, Colloids Surf. A 121 (1997) 103] decrease in cmc was not observed. The limiting surface tension at the cmc does not have any dependence on the amount of acetamide added. The cmc data as a function of temperature were used to estimate the free energy, enthalpy, and entropy terms for micellization. Enthalpy-entropy compensation takes place during micellization. Counterion binding constant, surface excess, and aggregation number of SDS decrease with increasing acetamide concentration and become almost constant for weight percentages of acetamide greater or equal to 30. Pyrene appears to move from the interior of the SDS micelle to the micellar interface at about 30 wt% acetamide. The empirical relations reported by Aguiar et al. [J. Aguiar, P. Carpena, J.A. Molina-Bolivar, C. Carnero Ruiz, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 258 (2003) 116] between the parameters of a sigmoid-type expression for the ratio of fluorescence emission intensities of pyrene and surfactant properties are found to be applicable to SDS in water + acetamide medium below 20 wt% acetamide only. Standard free energy of micellization has linear correlations with reciprocal of dielectric constant and Gordon parameter of the solvent. The water + acetamide medium behaves similar to mixed solvents containing water and any polar liquid nonaqueous solvent and this study highlights the significance of solvophobicity.