Phase behavior and microstructures in a mixture of anionic Gemini and cationic surfactants

We report in this work the phase behavior and microstructures in a mixture of an anionic Gemini surfactant, sodium dilauramino cystine (SDLC), and a conventional cationic surfactant, dodecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (DTAC). Observation of the appearance shows that the phase behavior of the SDLC-DTAC mixed cationic surfactant system transforms from an isotropic homogeneous phase to an aqueous surfactant two-phase system (ASTP) and then to an anisotropic homogeneous phase with the continuous addition of DTAC. The corresponding aggregate microstructures are investigated by rheology, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and polarization microscopy. It has been found that a wormlike micelle, in the isotropic homogeneous phase, occurs linear to the branch growth. The aggregate microstructures in the ASTP lower and upper phases are branched wormlike micelles and vesicles, respectively. The micelle transformed into a vesicle upon varying the phase volume percentage until a lamellar liquid crystal formed in the anisotropic homogeneous phase. The macroscopic phase behavior and microscopic aggregate structure are related to the understanding of the possible mechanisms for the above phenomena.