Temperature-controlled vesicle aggregation in the mixed system of sodium n-dodecyl sulfate/n-dodecyltributylammonium bromide.

Temperature-controlled vesicle aggregation was investigated in a catanionic surfactant system of sodium n-dodecyl sulfate/n-dodecyltributylammonium bromide. Vesicle aggregation took place as the temperature reached the critical value (T c ). T c can be adjusted by the variations of the total surfactant concentration and the mixed molar ratio. It was also found that the temperature variation above T c can greatly influence the vesicle aggregation rate. The vesicle aggregation process was irreversible as long as T ≥ T c , whereas the vesicle disaggregation process occurred only below T c .