Aggregation behavior of the surfactant bearing pyrrolidinium head group in the presence of polyacrylic acid

Abstract

The aggregation characteristics of binary systems based on a novel pyrrolidinium surfactant with the hexadecyl hydrocarbon tail and hydroxyethyl fragment at the nitrogen atom were studied in the presence of polyacrylic acid by a complex of physicochemical methods (tensiometry, conductometry, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, and spectrophotometry). The formation of surfactant–polyelectrolyte complexes leads to a decrease in the concentration thresholds of aggregation by an order of magnitude to form aggregates ~70 nm in size was established by tensiometry and fluorimetry. The solubilization capacity of the formed mixed aggregates was tested using the Orange OT hydrophobic dye.