van der Waals interactions in nonionic micelles

The aggregation energies of prolate and oblate ellipsoidal neutral micelles in a binary oil/water system were calculated by using a semiempirical model. The interactions among the polar heads of the amphiphilic molecules at the micelle interface were evaluated via a central potential of the Lennard-Jones 6-12 type. The interactions among the hydrophobic chains in the micelle bulk were evaluated via a phenomenological model. The results, which refer only to micelles of low eccentricity, show that the prolate and oblate micelles of equal volumes (containing the same number of molecules) have approximately the same aggregation energies.