An individual micelle formed by the cooperative association of surfactant molecules in an aqueous so — Surface Chemistry Chemistry Question
Question
An individual micelle formed by the cooperative association of surfactant molecules in an aqueous solution contains a significantly large number of aggregated ions forming its core-shell structure. According to standard surface chemistry models, what is the commonly cited approximate aggregation number (the typical number of such individual monomer ions) that perfectly associates to form one discrete micelle?
💡 Solution & Explanation
The aggregation number is a key defining characteristic of a micelle. Upon reaching the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the Kraft temperature, individual surfactant monomer ions cooperatively aggregate. A typical completely formed spherical micelle comprises approximately 100 such ions arranged with their hydrophobic tails pointing inward.