Platonic Micelles: Monodisperse Micelles with Discrete Aggregation Numbers Corresponding to Regular Polyhedra

The concept of micelles was first proposed in 1913 by McBain and has rationalized numerous experimental results of the self-aggregation of surfactants. It is generally agreed that the aggregation number (N(agg)) for spherical micelles has no exact value and a certain distribution. However, our studies of calix[4]arene surfactants showed that they were monodisperse with a defined N(agg) whose values are chosen from 6, 8, 12, 20, and 32. Interestingly, some of these numbers coincide with the face numbers of Platonic solids, thus we named them “Platonic micelles”. The preferred N(agg) values were explained in relation to the mathematical Tammes problem: how to obtain the best coverage of a sphere surface with multiple identical circles. The coverage ratio D(N) can be calculated and produces maxima at N = 6, 12, 20, and 32, coinciding with the observed N(agg) values. We presume that this “Platonic nature” may hold for any spherical micelles when N(agg) is sufficiently small.