title: Decyltrimethylammonium Bromide Micelles in Acidic Solutions: Counterion Binding, Water Structuring, and Micelle Shape.
abstract: Wide-angle neutron scattering experiments combined with empirical potential structural refinement modeling have been used to study the detailed structure of decyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles in the presence of acid solutions of HCl or HBr. These experiments demonstrate considerable variation in micelle structure and water structuring between micelles in the two acid solutions and in comparison with the same micelles in pure water. In the presence of the acids, the micelles are smaller; however, in the presence of HCl the micelles are more loosely structured and disordered while in the presence of HBr the micelles are more compact and closer to spherical. Bromide ions bind strongly to the micelle surface in the HBr solution, while in HCl solutions, ion binding to the micelle is similar to that found in pure water. The hydration numbers of the anions and extent of counterion binding follow the predictions of the Hofmeister series for these species.
authors.affiliation: ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source, Science and Technology Facilities Council Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford , Didcot OX11 0QX, U.K.
authors.forename: Daniel T
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4557-1929
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Bowron
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Bath , Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, U.K.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5822-0127
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Edler