Role of the counterion in the effects of added ethylene glycol to aqueous alkyltrimethylammonium micellar solutions

The influence of the addition of various amounts of ethylene glycol, EG, up to a weight percent of 50%, on the micellization process in N-hexadecyl, N-tetradecyl, and N-dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride micellar solutions was investigated. Conductivity, fluorescence, and spectroscopic measurements give information about changes in the cmc, in the micellar ionization degree, in the aggregation number and in the polarity of the interfacial region upon changing the percentage by weight of the organic solvent. These changes were compared to those found when ethylene glycol was added to the analogous alkyltrimethylammonium bromide aqueous micellar solutions, results showing that the effects caused by the presence of the organic solvent were practically independent of the counterion nature. This conclusion was in agreement with the micellar kinetic effects observed on the spontaneous hydrolysis of phenyl chloroformate in both water–ethylene glycol alkyltrimethylammonium bromide and chloride micellar solutions.

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