SANS Study of Clustering of Charged Micelles in Aqueous Electrolyte Solution

Small-angle neutron scattering studies have been carried out for the charged micellar system of 50 mM sodium dodcyle sulphate (SDS) and 50 mM tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) in presence of salts. The system undergoes clouding (turbid) at 0.75 M NaCl. We show that clouding takes place as a result of clustering of micelles and the required attraction is modeled by the Baxter's sticky hard sphere potential. The clouding is also examined for different salts and is governed by the counterion condensation and dehydration properties of salts ions.