Surface chemical and micellar properties of binary and ternary surfactant mixtures (cetyl pyridinium chloride, Tween-40, and Brij-56) in an aqueous medium

Mixed micelles formed by cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC), Tween-40, and Bri j-56 mixed in different proportions in an aqueous medium have been physicoc hemically studied in detail using tensiometric, conductometric, and fluorim etric techniques. The critical micellar concentration (CMC), free energies of micellization and interfacial adsorption, counterion binding, micellar a ggregation number, and micellar polarity have been determined. To understan d the CMC, composition, mutual synergism, and component activity coefficien ts of the mixed micelles, the theories and equations of Clint, Motomura, Ru bingh, Rubingh and Holland, and Sarmoria, Puvvada, and Blankschtein have be en used. Such studies on binary and ternary combinations are limited. (C) 2 001 Academic Press.