Colorimetric determination of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide by using aggregation with a carbocyanine dye

It was found that the commercial carbocyanine dye IR-783 containing sulfo groups forms aggregates with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in a slightly alkaline medium yielding a new absorption band, a change in the solution color from blue to yellow (Dl = 350 nm), and a change in the fluorescence intensity in the near-IR region. CTAB was determined by the photometric method by photographing the reaction mixture in a 96-well plate with a smartphone camera or in a Camag visualizer. The difference between the intensities of the red and blue channels (R – B), corresponding to the yellow color, was used as an analytical signal. The linear range in an aqueous solution is (3 – 25)·10–6 M, the detection limit is 1.6·10–6 M, and the relative standard deviation is 2–5%. The determination is not affected with a number of non-ionic surfactants, inorganic salts and polymers; the anionic surfactants interfere. Other cationic surfactants also give analytical signals, but with different sensitivities. The characteristics of the literature method for the determination of CTAB based on the Coomassie brilliant blue G-250 dye and the proposed method are comparable. A sample of CTAB-containing lysing buffer solution was analyzed.