Ion Specificity and Micellization of Ionic Surfactants: A Monte Carlo Study

We develop a simulation method which allows us to calculate the critical micelle concentrations for ionic surfactants in the presence of different salts. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The simulations are performed on a simple cubic lattice. The anionic interactions with the alkyl chains are taken into account based on the previously developed theory of the interfacial tensions of hydrophobic interfaces: the kosmotropic anions do not interact with the hydrocarbon tails of ionic surfactants, while chaotropic anions interact with the alkyl chains through a dispersion potential proportional to the anionic polarizability.