McBain and the centenary of the micelle

• McBain
• Micelle
• History

In 1913, J.W. McBain introduced the word “micelle” into surface and colloid chemistry in the context of the association of surfactant molecules in aqueous solution. This article gives a biographic account of McBain, and reviews the early work on micellar aggregation, leading up to the pioneering ideas of G.S. Hartley who introduced the first model of the spherical micelle that we would recognise today.

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