Stochastic simulations of micellization kinetics

The Monte Carlo method introduced by Gillespie (cf. D. T. Gillespie, J. Phys. Chem. 81, 2340 1977), was applied to the kinetics of micelle formation according to a mechanism that allows associations and dissociations among ennamers of whatever aggregation number. A careful choice of thermodynamic and dissociation kinetic constants made it possible to reproduce both equilibrium and kinetic properties of hypothetical surfactant solutions. The results obtained by stochastic simulations are shown and compared to the accepted theory and to the experimental evidence available in literature. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(99)50833-7].