This project by Clifford Bunton of the University of California at Santa Barbara, is within the Organic Dynamics Program, and is aimed at studying reactions at the surfaces of aggregates. When surfactant organic molecules are placed in water, they form aggregates known as micelles. This research will investigate the effect of these micelles on organic reactions which occur at their surfaces; this will also provide information about micellar structure. This research will involve a study of chemical reactvity in colloidal self-assemblies of synthetic surfactants and the examination of the structures of these assemblies, largely by light scattering and NMR spectroscopy. The aim of the work will be the understanding of the factors that control chemical reactivity at submicroscopic interfaces, especially in water. Theoretical models of ion-binding at these interfaces will be tested.
