Micellization is the precipitation of lipids from aqueous solution into aggregates with a broad distribution of aggregation number. Three eras of micellization are characterized in a simple kinetic model of Becker-Döring type. The model assigns the same constant energy to the (k-1) monomer-monomer bonds in a linear chain of k particles. The number of monomers decreases sharply and many clusters...

The micellization process of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) and bromide (DTAB) was studied at 313 K. Nuclear magnetic resonance and calorimetric methods were used. The calorimetric titration curves permitted determination of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and enthalpy of the micellization process (deltaHm) of the compounds studied. The results obtained were compared to those...

Mixed Pluronic micelles from very hydrophobic and very hydrophilic copolymers were selected to scrutinize the synergistic effect on the self-assembly process as well as the solubilization capacity of ibuprofen. The tendency of mixing behavior between parent copolymers was systematically examined from two perspectives: different block chain lengths at same hydrophilicity (L92 + F108, +F98, +F88,...

Surfactants, or surface active agents, are chemicals exhibiting amphiphilic behavior toward a solvent. This amphiphilic character leads to increased activity at interfaces and to self-assembly into micellar aggregates beyond a threshold surfactant concentration, referred to as the critical micelle concentration (CMC), in bulk solutions. As a result of these unique attributes, surfactants are us...

Three groups of pyrrolidinium headgroup-based gemini surfactants of 1,1'-(propane-1,3-diyl)bis(1-alkyl pyrrolidinium) bromide, in categories of symmetric CmC3CmPB (m = 10, 12, 14), dissymmetric CmC3C14PB (m = 10, 12, 14) and CmC3CnPB (m = 8, 10, 12, m + n = 24) surfactants, are studied using equilibrium surface tension, conductivity, fluorescence, and NMR techniques. The importance of the dissy...

Thermoresponsive polymeric surfactant CAE85 is a telechelic carboxyl group derivative of Pluronic P85 and its carboxyl end-groups undergo deprotonation into carboxylate groups upon micellization. Micelle formation and disintegration were studied here by means of small angle X-ray scattering, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, quantum mechanical calculations and dynamical mechanical analysis. The depr...

The heating-induced micellization of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (Pluronic PE10300) triblock copolymer chains was studied by ultrasensitive differential scanning calorimetry, laser light scattering, and fluorescence spectrometry with a fluorescent probe, 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid ammonium salt. The critical micellization temperatures obtained f...

We report protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) encapsulated pH-responsive micelles for cancer treatment. This system showed pH-responsive micellization/demicellization transition at tumoral acidic pH and enabled in vivo tumor diagnosis and therapy simultaneously.

Self-assembled, lipid-based micelles, such as those formed by the short-chain phosphocholine, dihexanoylphosphatidylcholine (2C6PC), are degraded pancreatic enzyme, phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Degradation yields 1-hexanoyl-lysophosphocholine (C6LYSO) and hexanoic acid (C6FA) products. However, little is known about behavior of these products during after degradation 2C6PC. In this work, a combinat...