Rotational dynamics of coumarin 153 in non-ionic mixed micelles of n-octyl-β-D-thioglucoside and Triton X-100

Rotational diffusion of the neutral probe coumarin 153 has been examined in a mixed surfactant system containing n-octyl-β-D-thioglucoside (OTG) and Triton X-100 (TX100), two non-ionic surfactants belonging to the alkyl glucoside and polyoxyethylene alkyl ether families, respectively. Both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements indicate that the polarity of the dye decreases slightly as the amount of ethoxylated surfactant in the mixed micelle increases. This behaviour can be attributed to migration of the probe towards the inner region of the micellar palisade layer as a result of the increasing hydration induced by the presence of TX100. The anisotropy decay curves, r(t), were well fitted to a biexponential function, characterized by two reorientational times of the probe in the micellar pseudophase. The experimental data were analyzed on the basis of the two-step and wobbling-in-a-cone model, and the results obtained correlated with the changes that occur in the palisade layer of the mixed micelles due to the different structure and nature of the head groups of both surfactants. It was found that, although the average reorientation time of the probe molecule is almost unaffected with the participation of the ethoxylated surfactant, the observed increase in the generalized order parameter suggests a certain rise in the compactness of the mixed micelles.