Thermodynamics of Micelle Formation: Prediction of Micelle Size and Size Distribution

This paper presents a simple theory for the calculation of micelle size and other properties of micelleforming systems. The theory is based on the separate estimation of the components of the free energy arising from hydrophobic attraction and from head group repulsion, each as a function of micelle size. The difficult problem of an a priori calculation of the repulsive factor is circumvented by using experimental values of this parameter, derived from pressure-area curves of monolayers at an interface between an aqueous solution and liquid hydrocarbon. Though some parameters of the theory are still somewhat uncertain, self-consistent and physically realistic values can be assigned that lead to almost exact prediction of experimental micelle sizes and critical micelle concentrations for two distinctly different ionic detergents.