Determination of the hydrodynamic volume of inverted micelles containing water by the fluorescent polarization technique

Abstract

Sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinat (aerosol OT, AOT) can form inverted micelles in apolar solvents and large amounts of water can be solubilized in such solutions. Water is confined in spherical pools encased by surfactant molecules. The fluorescence polarization technique is used to determine the hydrodynamic micellar volume as a function of the (H/sub 2/O)/(AOT) ratio. This can be achieved by using a hydrophylic fluorescent probe (3, 4, 9, 10-perylenetetracarboxy) which is localized in the aqueous part of the micelle. 11 references.