Solubilization of n-alkylbenzenes in aggregates of sodium dodecyl sulfate and a cationic polymer of high charge density (II).

The solubilization property of the aggregate composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and a cationic polymer (polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride, PDADMAC) was investigated. From the binding isotherm, the increasing free SDS concentration (Cf) above the critical aggregation concentration (cac) was clearly confirmed and used to calculate the Gibbs free energy change of solubilization. The maximum additive concentration of the alkylbenzene solubilizates remained almost constant around their aqueous solubilities below the cac and then increased with increasing SDS concentration above the cac and with decreasing alkyl chain length of the solubilizates. Also, their solubility increased with increasing temperature over the concentration range of the surfactant examined. Because the monomeric DS- concentration in the aqueous phase (Cf) increased with the SDS concentration above the cac in the SDS/PDADMAC system, Cf was evaluated from the binding isotherm to calculate the change in the Gibbs energies of transfer of the solubilizates using the phase separation model. The Gibbs energy change for the solubilizates decreased with increasing temperature and increasing alkyl chain length. The decrease in the Gibbs energy per CH2 group (DeltaGCH2 degrees) was favored by an increase of temperature, and it was larger in magnitude than that for micelles of single-surfactant systems. From the values of DeltaH degrees and TDeltaS degrees, the solubilization of alkylbenzenes into SDS/PDADMAC was found to be entropy-driven. Copyright 2004 American Chemical Society