THE KINETICS AND MECHANISM OF MICELLE-VESICLE TRANSITIONS IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION

Bi-chained surfactants, e.g. sodium diaIkylbenzenesulphonates, can spo ntaneously form vesicles when salts (e.g. NaCl) are added to water. Cr itical vesicle concentrations can be readily determined. The kinetics and mechanism for the breakdown and formation of vesicles will be disc ussed. A mechanism for assembly/disassembly is proposed. Organic dyes can be encapsulated inside the vesicles and their release rates can be monitored using flow experiments. It is found that the vesicle bilaye r provides a rather low energy barrier to the transport of the dye fro m the vesicle core to the external aqueous medium.