The influence of ionic liquids on micellization of sodium dodecyl sulfate in aqueous solutions

Abstract

The micellization of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in water and aqueous solutions of NaCl (0.1 M) and three ionic liquids (IL, 0.01 M) with different side-chain length, i.e. 1,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride was investigated in the temperature range from 288.15 to 328.15 K using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Thermodynamics of micellization was studied by the fitting of the mass-action model to the ITC data. The micellization of SDS in all the studied systems is an entropy-driven at lower temperatures and an enthalpy-driven at higher temperatures. It was also found that with the increasing nonpolar character of IL the interactions between the SDS should be stronger leading to more negative Gibbs free energy and enthalpy of micellization. To obtain information about the micellar charge, the conductivity and zeta-potential measurements were performed at 298.15 K. It is assumed that the charge screening between negative sulfate heads is more efficient in the presence of ILs due to their possible incorporation into the micellar structure reflecting in less negative zeta-potential of micelles comparing to SDS in water and consequently higher degrees of micelle ionization due to the larger portion of sodium ions in solution.