To investigate the effect of non-ionic polymers polyvinyl pyrrolidone
(PVP), polyethylene oxide and polyvinyl alcohol on critical micelle
concentration of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate and a
cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide at different
temperatures by conductivity and surface tension techniques. The CMC of
SDS decreased in presence of the polymers. The degree of this decrease
in CMC of SDS was greater for PVP than for PEO and PVA. Increase in the
micellar ionization degree was observed for SDS-polymer mixtures. Gcomp
values for SDS-polymer mixtures were higher, more negative for
SDS-polymer mixtures than pure SDS. These results showed that as
compared to PEO and PVA, PVP interacts more strongly with SDS. The
critical aggregation concentration of SDS-PVP, SDS-PEO and SDS-PVA
mixtures slightly decreased with rise in temperature. and Gcomp of
SDS-polymer mixtures increased with increase in temperature reflecting
that complexation is favored at high temperatures. The krafft
temperature of CTAB did not show any dependence on the concentration of
the polymers.