Self-assembly of ionic and non-ionic surfactants in type IV cerium nitrate and urea based deep eutectic solvent

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry

Background:

• Surfactant self-assembly into micelles is crucial for various applications.
• Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) offer unique environments for self-assembly, influencing micelle morphology.
• Previous studies focused on Type III DESs; this work investigates Type IV DESs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the self-assembly of various surfactants in a Type IV DES.
• To understand how surfactant structure and DES composition affect micelle formation.
• To investigate the potential of these self-assembled structures as templates for porous materials.

Main Methods:

• Investigated self-assembly of cationic (C12TANO3/C12TAB), anionic (SDS), and non-ionic (C12EO6, C16EO8) surfactants.
• Utilized a Type IV DES composed of cerium (III) nitrate hexahydrate and urea (1:3.5 molar ratio).
• Analyzed micelle morphology (size, shape) using techniques not explicitly stated but implied by the results.

Main Results:

• Cationic and non-ionic surfactants formed spherical micelles, with size influenced by alkyl chain length and head group.
• Anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) formed cylindrical micelles.
• Hypothesized differences in micelle shape are due to specific interactions between surfactant head groups/tails and DES components.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated successful amphiphile self-assembly in a novel ionic, hydrogen-bonding DES.
• The distinct micelle morphologies provide insights into surfactant-solvent interactions.
• These self-assembled structures can serve as templates for generating porous metal oxides like ceria.