The enthalpies of dilution of micellar solutions of several 12-s-12 dimeric surfactants of the alkanediyl-α,ω-bis(dodecyldi-methylammonium bromide) type, differing by the carbon number s of the alkanediyl spacer, and of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) have been measured calorimetrically, in a range of concentrations extending from well below to well above the critical micelle concentration (cmc). The results permitted the determination of the enthalpy of micellization, ΔH°M, of the investigated surfactants at 25 and 35°C. The values of ΔH°M were always negative and became more negative as the temperature was increased. The plot of −ΔH°M against s showed a shallow minimum at about s=5 and a large decrease of −ΔH°M going from 12-2-12 to 12- 4-12. This effect has been attributed to the contribution to ΔH°M of the hindered rotation of the dodecyl chains around the spacer C–C bond for 12-2-12. This hindrance is shown to rapidly disappear when s is increased from 2 to above 4. The specific heats of micellization, the free energies of micellization, and the entropies of micellization (ΔS°M) have been calculated using the ΔH°M values and the reported cmc and micelle ionization degree data for 12-s-12 surfactants and DTAB. For all surfactants the results show that TΔS°M>−ΔH°M, indicating an entropy-driven micellization.
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