The microscopic equilibrium structures of adsorbed films of quaternary ammonium surfactants on mica have been investigated by noncontact atomic force microscopy imaging as a function of alkyl chain length and headgroup structure. Spherical and cylindrical surface micelles were observed; these were found to be related to bulk solution self-assembly and the surfactant packing parameter, v/a0lc. S...

The association of many classes of surface active molecules into micellar aggregates is a well-known phenomenon. Micelles are often drawn as static structures of spherical aggregates of oriented molecules. However, micelles are in dynamic equilibrium with surfactant monomers in the bulk solution constantly being exchanged with the surfactant molecules in the micelles. Additionally, the micelles...

In this article, we focus on simulation methodologies to obtain the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and equilibrium distribution of aggregate sizes in dilute surfactant solutions. Even though it is now relatively easy to obtain micellar aggregates in simulations starting from a fully dispersed state, several major challenges remain. In particular, the characteristic times of micelle reorga...