Volumetric studies on binary mixtures of surfactants N,N′-bis(dimethyldodecyl)-1,2-ethanediammonium dibromide and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide in aqueous solutions

•The volumetric properties of surfactants in monomeric and micellar states were measured.•CMCs of mixed surfactant systems of C12mimBr/12-2-12 were determined.•The properties of mixed micelles were analyzed by Margules equation.•The volumetric and calorimetric methods for studying mixed micelles were compared.

The micellization of the binary mixed surfactants comprising of the Gemini surfactant N,N′-bis(dimethyldodecyl)-1,2-ethanediammonium dibromide and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide has been studied by measurements of density. The apparent molar volumes were calculated for various surfactant concentrations and used to determine the critical micelle concentrations of the mixed surfactants at various compositions. An attractive effect was suggested by negative deviations of the experimental CMC values from the ideal ones. The Margules equation was applied to evaluate the micelle compositions, the activity coefficients of both components, and the excess molar Gibbs free energies of the mixed micelles. The stability of mixed micelles was shown to be enhanced as compared to those formed by single surfactants from the negative values of the excess Gibbs free energy. The comparison of the results obtained from the volumetric and ITC measurements indicated a reasonable good accordance with each other and confirmed the reliability of both methods for investigation on the properties of the mixed micelles.