The critical micelle concentrations (cmc's) for binary mixtures of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and
nonionic n-alkyl malono-bis-N-methylglucamides (C
n
BNMG) have been measured by surface tension.
Synergistic interactions over the entire mole fraction range are observed when the nonionic alkyl chain
length n is either 10 or 12. A switch from antagonistic behavior at low SDS solution mole fractions to
synergistic behavior at high SDS solution mole fractions is observed for the C14BNMG/SDS mixture. The
dodecyl sulfate unimer concentrations in binary mixtures of C12BNMG/SDS are well described by regular
solution theory (Rubingh, D. N. Solution
Chemistry of Surfactants; Plenum: New York, 1979), using the
experimentally determined cmc values. On addition of gelatin, the cmc is depressed for the binary C10BNMG/SDS and C12BNMG/SDS combinations, but only above a critical SDS solution mole fraction,
.
Therefore, interaction between the gelatin and the mixed micelles is only seen above
. No
corresponding
value is found for the C14BNMG/SDS system. Here, cmc's are unchanged by the
presence of gelatin for any mixture, thus indicating no interaction between the mixed C14BNMG/SDS
micelle and gelatin. On increasing the nonionic alkyl chain length from 10 to 12,
increases. For the
latter system where both components possess dodecyl tails, the dodecyl sulfate unimer concentration is
reduced for solutions above
but remains unchanged for solutions below
, relative to the no-gelatin case. The composition of the bound micelle is very different from that formed in the absence of
gelatin. Furthermore, whereas the compositions of the micelle and solution are vastly different in the
absence of gelatin, they are very similar in the presence of gelatin. Not only does the nonionic surfactant
promote binding of SDS to gelatin, but at the highest SDS mole fraction studied, it induces pre-cmc(1)
nonmicellar SDS binding.