RELATION BETWEEN THE APOLAR AND POLAR COMPONENTS OF THE INTERACTION ENERGY BETWEEN THE CHAINS OF NOHIONIC SURFACTANTS AND THEIR CMC IN WATER

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Abstract
A new approach has been developed which successfully takes into account the (Lewis) acid-base, or polar, as well as the Lifshitz-van der Waals, or apolar interfacial Interactions in aqueous media. By using this approach, it becomes possible to calculate the cmc values for various nonionic surfactants of the polyethylene oxide variety, from the molecular dimensions of the apolar and polar moieties of nonionic surfactants, and from the apolar and polar interfacial free energies between these moieties and water. The calculated values correlate well with the reported cue values. The total interfaclal free energies thus obtained also quantitatively account for the stability of the micelles which arise at the cmc and beyond.