SOLUBILIZATION OF NONPOLAR COMPOUNDS BY NONIONIC SURFACTANT MICELLES

The distribution of non-polar hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) bet ween various surfactant micellar pseudophases and water is examined. E xperimental measurements have been made with nine non-ionic surfactant s and one anionic surfactant with hexachlorobenzene. These distributio ns have been quantified with micelle-water partition coefficients, K-m (M(-1)), which are calculated utilizing the chemical's solubility in d istilled water. With this data and information previously published on other HOCs and surfactants, a simple semi-empirical equation was cons tructed that relates micelle-water partition coefficients, K-m, to oct anol-water partition coefficients, K-ow, and surfactant structural pro perties. Only two parameters in the final equation define surfactant s tructural characteristics. A rationale of the final model construct is presented.