Mesoscopic Simulations on the Aggregate Behavior of Oligomeric Adamantane Surfactants in Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

AbstractOligomeric adamantane surfactants are novel surfactants using rigid adamantane as spacer group, which can form a variety of scales and shapes of micelles and aggregates in aqueous solution. In this paper, the self-assembling aggregate behavior of N,N-dimethyl dodecyl ammonium bromide adamantine [Ad-(NC12Br)], 1,3-di(N,N-dimethyl dodecyl ammonium bromide) adamantine [Ad-(NC12Br)2] and 1,3,5-tri-(N,N-dimethyl dodecyl ammonium bromide) adamantine [Ad-(NC12Br)3] in aqueous solution is studied by mesoscopic simulations of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD). The simulation results show that the critical micelle concentrations of the three adamantane oligomeric surfactants is in the order of [Ad-(NC12Br)3] < [Ad-(NC12Br)2] < [Ad-(NC12Br)]. The three oligomeric adamantane surfactants are able to form aggregates with a variety of spatial structures, such as spherical micelles, vesicles, lamellas, reticular lamellas, column lamellas or steric reticules in response to different surfactant concentrations in the aqueous solution.