Capillary electrophoresis study on the micellization and critical micelle concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate: Influence of solubilized solutes

The influence of solubilized solutes on the micellization and critical micelle concentration (CMC) of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were investigated by means of capillary electrophoresis (CE). Three different structural types of test solutes, including chloropyridines, chlorophenols and cephalosporins with different binding strength to SDS micelles, were selected in this study. The variations of the effective electrophoretic mobility of these solutes as a function of SDS concentration in the premicellar and micellar regions were analyzed. Interestingly, the results indicate that, in the presence of these solubilized solutes, the micellization of SDS may occur over a range of SDS concentration, with the aggregate size increasing over this range. Depending on the nature of solubilized solutes and the extent of the interactions between solubilized solutes and SDS micelles, the CMC value of SDS may vary significantly. The incorporation of solubilized solutes into SDS micelles to form mixed micelles is proposed to interpret the migration behavior of solubilized solutes in CE.