Rough glass surface-mediated transition of micelle-to-vesicle in sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate solutions

In this paper, we report a micelle-to-vesicle transition in aqueous solution of the anionic single-tailed surfactant (STS) sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS), with the mediation of a rough glass surface (RGS) in the absence of cosurfactants or additives. This transition produced a mixed solution of vesicles and micelles. Interestingly, the obtained SDBS vesicles in the solution displayed good stability during a long-term storage (at least 6 months at room temperature), exposure to high temperature (80 °C for 2 h), and freeze-thawing (-20 or -196 °C for 2 h to approximately 25 °C) after the RGS was removed. Our results confirmed that SDBS could adsorb on the RGS to form bilayers, in which the molecular packing parameter of SDBS was in the range of 1/2-1. The bilayer adsorption and the roughness of the solid surface played an important role in the vesicle formation. In addition, we propose a possible mechanism for the RGS-mediated transition of micelle-to-vesicle in SDBS solutions: SDBS micelles and molecules adsorb on the RGS to form curved bilayers; the curved bilayers detach from the RGS, and then close to form vesicles.