Physicochemical and electrochemical methods for determination of critical micelle concentrations of surfactants: a comprehensive review

• Published in: Monatshefte für Chemie Vol. 153; no. 2; pp. 125 - 138
• Main Authors: Mabrouk, Mokhtar M., Hamed, Nouran A., Mansour, Fotouh R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.02.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Materials science; Micelles; Organic Chemistry; Physical Chemistry; Review; Surfactants; Theoretical and Computational Chemistry; Critical micelle concentration; Surfactants; Electrical impedance spectroscopy; Capillary electrophoresis; Light scattering
• ISSN: 0026-9247; 1434-4475
• DOI: 10.1007/s00706-022-02891-2

The interest in the determination of critical micelle concentrations (CMC) has been growing for decades. The measurement of CMC is fundamental in many fields because surfactants are widely used in biology, pharmaceutical chemistry, and materials science. The properties and characteristics of surfactants, including CMC determination are also of major importance in drug delivery. There is no updated review that covers the developed methods to assess the CMC of surfactants. This review aims to survey and discuss various physicochemical and electrochemical approaches for the determination of the CMC. The principle, limitations, and remarks about the difficulties that may arise in the process of CMC determination are also elaborated. Methods that can be used for CMC determination of different types of surfactants (anionic, cationic, non-ionic, and zwitterionic), and methods for low CMC levels are highlighted. The deviations in certain methods from the actual CMC values have also been discussed. Graphical abstract