Modeling the influence of salts on the critical micelle concentration of ionic surfactants.

We show for the first time that a phenomenological, augmented volume-based thermodynamics (aVBT) model is capable to predict the critical micelle concentrations of ionic surfactants, including ionic liquids, with added salts. The model also adjusts for the type of salt added by including its molecular volume, which might form a connection to the Hofmeister effect. The other physico-chemically relevant quantities included in the model include surface area and solvation enthalpies.