Fluorescence Quenching in Double-Chained Surfactants. 1. Theory of Quenching in Micelles and Vesicles

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100338a064

The time-resolved fluorescence quenching technique is used to investigate the aggregation behavior of double-chained surfactants.With a new extension of this technique, surfactant solutions consisting of (1) only vesicles, (2) mixtures of vesicles and micelles, or (3) only micelles can be distinguished.When applied to solutions of didodecyldimethylammonium acetate, the microstructure is determined to be composed of mainly small micelles over a wide concentration range (0.001-0.1 M); the contribution of vesicles to the total surfactant inventory is quite small.In studies of double-chained surfactants, the technique is particularly valuable for following the transformation of liquid crystalline dispersions to micellar solutions upon heating or dilution.