Physiochemical insight into the solution behavior of cationic gemini surfactant in water and ethanol–water systems

Surfactants in water and both alcohol-water mixed solutions are used extensively in a host of industrial applications. This work presents the solution behavior and micellar transition of a cationic gemini surfactant (GS): N,N′-dihexadecyl-N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-N,N′-ethanediyl-diammonium dibromide (16-2-16) in water and mixed water-ethanol media. Phase behavior for 16-2-16 in the ethanol–water system was investigated at ambient temperature. The rheological data obtained for these systems at varying alcohol concentrations showed that the system viscosity (η) decreased with as the ethanol concentration increased. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) was used to probe the structural details of the cationic micelles as a function of ethanol concentration and temperature. The scattering data inferred a structural transition from unilamellar vesicles (ULV) through rod-like micelles to ellipsoidal micelles occurs that is dependent on the solvent composition and temperature indicating the behavior of ethanol molecules as a cosolvent in the process of micelle breaking. The plausible physicochemical interactions in the 16-2-16-ethanol mixed system were further investigated using a computational simulation study employing density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP (Gauss View 5.0.9) utilizing a 3-21G basis set.