Micellar Catalysis — Pseudophase Rate Enhancement

Surfactant micelles don't just self-assemble — once formed, they can dramatically accelerate a chemical reaction by acting as nanoscale reaction vessels. This simulation follows a hydrophobic substrate and a hydrophilic ionic nucleophile diffusing through water: below the critical micelle concentration both reactants meet only by chance in bulk water, but once cationic surfactant micelles form, the substrate solubilizes into each micelle's hydrophobic core while the nucleophile concentrates at its charged surface — pulling both species into the same nanoscale volume and multiplying the local collision rate. Adjust the surfactant dose, the substrate's partition coefficient, and the intrinsic micellar rate enhancement to watch the observed rate constant climb along the classic pseudophase saturation curve, and track live solubilization and product-formation statistics as the reaction runs.