An experimental and theoretical exploration of the impact of co-solvent on the micellization behaviour of ionic surfactants

In current study, a combined experimental as well molecular modeling study on the effect of Ethyl lactate on the self-aggregation behaviour of N-Lauroyl sarcosine sodium salt (NLSS) and benzethonium chloride (BC) was done. It was found that the micellization phenomenon of both surfactants repressed on raising the concentration of the Ethyl lactate. The electrical conductivity measurements were utilized to calculate the CMC values. Moreover, thermodynamic factors were determined by employing temperature dependence of CMC values i.e. X_CMC. The outcomes showed that CMC values of both surfactants rise on increasing the co-solvent concentration and it acts as H₂O structure breaker. Values of ΔG_m^° are negative that becomes less negative on upsurging the concentration of co-solvent, which reveals that the micelle formation becomes less favorable at high fractions of Ethyl lactate + H₂O. A systematic exploration of the impact of co-solvent on the self-aggregation behaviour is important in various fields like detergency, pharmaceuticals, etc.