Enhanced solubilization of naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene in mi
cellar solutions of Triton X-100 was studied for single compounds and
their binary and ternary mixtures. Experimental results were obtained
for the following conditions: (i) naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyren
e as single compounds at saturation; (ii) naphthalene, phenanthrene, a
nd pyrene as binary and ternary mixtures at saturation; (iii) phenanth
rene at saturation in a range of naphthalene concentrations; (iv) pyre
ne at saturation in a range of naphthalene concentrations. The solubil
ity enhancement of naphthalene was slightly reduced in the presence of
phenanthrene and/or pyrene. A synergistic effect on the solubilizatio
n of phenanthrene was observed in the presence of different amounts of
naphthalene. The solubility of phenanthrene was greatly enhanced in b
oth binary mixtures and in the ternary mixture. The solubility of pyre
ne was slightly reduced in the presence of naphthalene, remained unaff
ected in the presence of phenanthrene, and increased significantly in
the ternary mixture. The increase in the partition coefficient values
is explained by the partitioning of the solubilzate at the micellar co
re-water interface, which changes the interfacial free energy and effe
ctively increases the volume of the core leading to a higher solubiliz
ation potential.