Transport of monomer surfactant molecules and hindered diffusion of micelles through porous membranes

Diffusion of Triton X-100 through Celgard 2500 membranes was examined. The pore permeability for monomers was 5.0 × 10^-6 cm²/sec and it was measured for upstream concentrations below the CMC value of 2.29 × 10^-4M at 30°C. This value is close to the monomer diffusion coefficient in bulk suggesting that the monomers do not experience significant hindrance due to the pore walls. The permeability of the surfactant drops abruptly within a narrow range of reservoir solution concentrations in the vicinity of the CMC. At concentrations 10 × CMC, the permeability coefficient becomes constant and equal to 3.9 × 10^-7 cm²/sec which is the pore permeability for the Triton X-100 micelles. Compared to the diffusion coefficient of micelles in bulk water, the transport of micelles is hindered by the pore walls. In a 10-fold concentration range the micellar pore permeability is practically constant indicating no large change in micelle size. The chemical equilibrium model applied to surfactant diffusion in pores shows reasonable agreement over the entire range of the experimental data for reservoir concentrations from one-fifth times the CMC to 100 times the CMC.