title: Special effect of beta-cyclodextrin on the aggregation behavior of mixed cationic/anionic surfactant systems.
abstract: Controllable aggregate transitions are achieved in this work by adding due amounts of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) to mixed cationic/anionic surfactant aqueous solutions. In contrast to its "aggregate breaking" effect in single surfactant systems, aggregate growth is observed in nonstoichiometrical mixed cationic/anionic surfactant systems upon addition of beta-CD. The aggregate growth typically undergoes a micellar elongation and a following micelle-to-vesicle transition, which in turn greatly influences the viscosity and absorbance of the solutions. A possible mechanism of this beta-CD-induced aggregate growth is proposed. In mixed cationic/anionic surfactant systems, the surfactants strongly tend to reach electroneutral equilibrium in aggregates. In the present case, added beta-CD is found to greatly facilitate the equilibrium by transferring the "major" component (whose molar fraction>0.5) of a cationic/anionic surfactant mixture from the aggregates to beta-CD cavities. Consequently, the surfactants in the aggregates approach electroneutral mixing, in favor of low-curved aggregates such as vesicles. This work shows that beta-CD provides an additional degree of freedom to control microstructures and macroproperties for the whole class of mixed cationic/anionic surfactant systems.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lingxiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Manli
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yilin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Dehai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang