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Supramolecular Packing Drives Morphological Transitions of Charged Surfactant Micelles
Author(s) -
Schäfer Ken,
Kolli Hima Bindu,
Killingmoe Christensen Mikkel,
Bore Sigbjørn Løland,
Diezemann Gregor,
Gauss Jürgen,
Milano Giuseppe,
Lund Reidar,
Cascella Michele
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202004522
Subject(s) - counterion , micelle , supramolecular chemistry , pulmonary surfactant , chemical physics , neutron scattering , small angle neutron scattering , ionic bonding , sodium dodecyl sulfate , scattering , chemistry , small angle x ray scattering , materials science , ion , chemical engineering , crystallography , physics , organic chemistry , optics , crystal structure , aqueous solution , biochemistry , engineering
The shape and size of self‐assembled structures upon local organization of their molecular building blocks are hard to predict in the presence of long‐range interactions. Combining small‐angle X‐ray/neutron scattering data, theoretical modelling, and computer simulations, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), over a broad range of concentrations and ionic strengths, was investigated. Computer simulations indicate that micellar shape changes are associated with different binding of the counterions. By employing a toy model based on point charges on a surface, and comparing it to experiments and simulations, it is demonstrated that the observed morphological changes are caused by symmetry breaking of the irreducible building blocks, with the formation of transient surfactant dimers mediated by the counterions that promote the stabilization of cylindrical instead of spherical micelles. The present model is of general applicability and can be extended to all systems controlled by the presence of mobile charges.