THERMODYNAMIC AND RELATED STUDIES OF AMPHIPHILE PLUS WATER-SYSTEMS

Modest sized amphiphiles play an important role as aqueous co-solvents . Thermodynamic studies of their aqueous mixtures appear to indicate t hat they are capable of mimicking the important schemes of self-aggreg ation that are known to be characteristic of detergents and lipids. At tention is focused upon the alkyl poly(ethylene glycol) monoether + wa ter systems. The composition dependence of their thermodynamic propert ies is discussed in terms of both graphical and numerical analyses and possible interpretations of the effects of molecular aggregation.