Dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide in water-urea mixtures: structure and energetics

Simple ApproximaTion for Aggregation Number Determination by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry: STAND-ITC

A new proposal to obtain aggregation numbers from isothermal titration calorimetry dilution experiments is described and tested using dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, dodecyl methylimidazolium chloride, dodecyl methylimidazolium sulfonate, and didecyl methylimidazolium chloride aqueous solutions at different temperatures. The results were compared to those obtained from fluorescence measurements and also with data from the literature. In addition to the aggregation number, the molar free energy to transfer a solute molecule from the aggregate to the bulk solution, the enthalpy corresponding to the formation of the self-assembled suprastructures, the molar heat corresponding to the dilution of monomers and aggregates, and an offset parameter to account for unpredictable external contributions are simultaneously obtained using the same method. The new equations are compared to those obtained from previous proposals, and they are also analyzed in detail to assess the impact of each fitting parameter in the profile of the calorimetric isotherm. This new approach has been implemented in a computational code that automatically determines the fitting parameters as well as the corresponding statistical uncertainties for the large variety of calorimetric profiles that have been tested. Given the high sensitivity of the dilution experiments to the aggregation number for relatively small assemblies, our approach is proposed also to quantify the oligomerization state of biomolecules such as proteins and peptides.

Microheterogeneity and microviscosity of F127 micelle: the counter effects of urea and temperature

F127 is the most widely studied triblock copolymer and due to the presence of very long polypropylene oxide (PPO) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) groups, F127 micelle has different microenvironments clearly separated into core, corona, and peripheral regions. Urea has been known to have adverse effects on the micellar properties and causes demicellization and solvation; on the other hand, rise in temperature causes micellization and solvent evacuation from the core and corona regions. In the present study, we have investigated the microheterogeneity of the core, corona, and peripheral regions of the F127 micelle using red edge excitation shift (REES) at different temperatures and urea concentrations and correlated the effect of both on the micellar system. It was found that the temperature counteracts the effect of urea and also that the counteraction is more prominent in the core region with respect to corona, and the peripheral region is least affected. Also, the core and corona regions are very much heterogeneous, while the peripheral region is more of a homogeneous nature. Using time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy, we found that the microviscosity within the micelles vary in the order of core > corona > peripheral region, and urea has a general tendency to reduce the microviscosity, especially for core and corona regions. On the other hand, rise in temperature initially increases and then decreases the microviscosity throughout, and at elevated temperatures the effect of urea is being dominated by the effect of temperature, thereby establishing the counter effects of temperature and urea on the F127 micellar system.

Interaction of Urea with Pluronic Block Copolymers by 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Solution 1H NMR techniques were used to characterize the interaction of urea with poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock copolymers. The urea was established to interact selectively with the PEO blocks of the block copolymer, and the interaction sites were found not to change with increasing temperature. Such interactions influence the self-assembly properties of the block copolymer in solution by increasing the hydration of the block copolymers and stabilizing the gauche conformation of the PPO chain. Therefore, urea increases the critical micellization temperature (CMT) values of PEO-PPO-PEO copolymers, and the effect of urea on the CMT is more pronounced for copolymers with higher PEO contents and lower for those with increased contents of PPO segments.

Do amphiphile aggregate morphologies and interfacial compositions depend primarily on interfacial hydration and ion-specific interactions? The evidence from chemical trapping

Surface-active amphiphiles aggregate spontaneously in water to form association colloids such as micelles, microemulsions, and vesicles. The hydrophobic effect drives aggregation, but the opposing forces that provide balance and determine equilibrium morphologies are not understood, in particular, how specific ion effects, which often follow a Hofmeister series, affect the properties of association colloids. We have harnessed the competitive trapping of arenediazonium ions by weakly basic nucleophiles such as halide counterions, anionic headgroups, alcohols, urea, and water, to estimate their concentrations in the interfacial regions of association colloids from reaction product yields. In the chemical trapping method, product yields are proportional to the concentrations of water and other nucleophiles within the interfacial region, not their stoichiometric concentrations in solution. Changes in the balance of forces controlling aggregate structure are reflected in changes in interfacial concentrations of water and other components in association colloids as reported by the chemical trapping method. Significant changes in interfacial water and counterion concentrations are observed during structural transitions. Specific ion effects on sphere-to-rod transitions of cationic amphiphiles are interpreted in terms of the strengths of headgroup and counterion pairing and ion hydration interactions. Trapping results also provide important information on interfacial compositions of microemulsions, vesicles, nonionic micelles and macroemulsions, reverse micelles, micelles in aqueous urea, and anionic polyelectrolytes. Identifying relationships between aggregate morphology and interfacial composition by chemical trapping has just begun.

Structural modifications of aqueous ionic micelles in the presence of denaturants as studied by DLS and viscometry

Hydrophobic interactions control the morphologies of both surfactant aggregates and proteins. Globular proteins "denature" upon addition of excess amounts of denaturants such as urea. Understanding the microscopic basis of the urea effect on proteins or supramolecular aggregates such as micelles has always been a debated issue. Inspired by this need, the effect of urea (U), thiourea (TU), monomethylurea (MMU), dimethylurea(DMU), tetramethylurea (TMU), dimethylthiourea (DMTU), and tetramethylthiourea (TMTU) on the structural transition (spherical micelles to rod-shaped micelles, s --> r) in the sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS)-1-pentanol system has been investigated through dynamic light scattering(DLS) and viscosity measurements at 25 degrees C. 1-Pentanol, at 0.14 M, is found to promote s --> r in this system (0.2 M SDBS). The presence of the additives causes, in almost all cases, a decrease and increase in this 1-pentanol concentration depending upon the concentration and nature of the additive. These effects are explained in terms of an increased dielectric constant of the solvent medium due to the presence of additives and increased micellar hydration due to the repulsion of charged monomers caused by adsorption of the additives. Taken together, the data signal the exposure of biological assemblies to water at higher [additive], which causes a decrease in hydrophobic interactions responsible for compact structure formation (i.e., native protein).

Partitioning of macrocyclic compounds in a cationic and an anionic micellar solution: a small-angle neutron scattering study

Following a previous investigation on partitioning of some macrocycle compounds in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) aqueous solutions and their effect on the micellar structure, a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study has been performed at fixed surfactant content (0.20 mol/L) and varying macrocycle concentrations from 0.20 up to 1.0 mol/L. Conductivity measurements have been also performed in order to evaluate the effect of the presence of macrocycles on the critical micellar concentration (cmc) of the two surfactants. SANS experimental data were fitted successfully by means of a core-plus-shell monodisperse prolate ellipsoid model. It has been found that 1,4,7,10,13,16-esaoxacyclooctadecane (18C6) and 4,7,13,16-tetraoxa-1,10-diazacyclooctadecane (22) do not interact with DTAB micelles whereas their sodium complexes interact with SDS aggregates and partially localize, as a consequence of electrostatic interaction, on the micellar surface or in the Stern layer. 2,5,8,11,14,17-Hexaoxabicyclo[16.4.0] dicosane (B18C6), as a consequence of the increased hydrophobic character with respect to 18C6, interacts with DTAB hydrocarbon chains and partially localizes in the inner part of micelles. This finding has been successfully used to justify the higher amount of B18C6 compared to the 18C6 one found in the SDS micellar phase. The substituted crown ether has been found localized both on the micelle surface via complex formation and in the inner part of micelles as a consequence of the increased hydrophobic character. For all systems, the aggregate size primarily decreases with the amount of macrocycle in the micellar phase. The interpretation of cmc trends as a function ofmacrocycle concentration gives information on its distribution between micellar and aqueous phases that is in line with SANS results.

A nonparametric approach to calculate critical micelle concentrations: the local polynomial regression method

The application of a statistical method, the local polynomial regression method, (LPRM), based on a nonparametric estimation of the regression function to determine the critical micelle concentration (cmc) is presented. The method is extremely flexible because it does not impose any parametric model on the subjacent structure of the data but rather allows the data to speak for themselves. Good concordance of cmc values with those obtained by other methods was found for systems in which the variation of a measured physical property with concentration showed an abrupt change. When this variation was slow, discrepancies between the values obtained by LPRM and others methods were found.