Perfluorooctanoate in Aqueous Urea Solutions: Micelle Formation, Structure, and Microenvironment.

ABSTRACT: Fluorinated surfactants are used in a wide range of applications that involve aqueous solvents incorporating various additives. The presence of organic compounds such as urea is expected to affect the self-assembly of fluorinated surfactants, however, very little is known about this. We investigated the effect of urea on the micellization in water of the common fluorinated surfactant ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO), and on the structure and microenvironment of the micelles that APFO forms. Addition of urea to aqueous APFO solution decreased the critical micellization concentration (CMC) and increased the counterion dissociation. The observed increase in surface area per APFO headgroup and decrease in packing density at the micelle surface suggest the localization of urea at the micelle

SUBMITTER: Kancharla S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6888096 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature