Properties liquid surfactants

Schemes for classifying surfactants are based upon physical properties or upon functionality. Charge is tire most prevalent physical property used in classifying surfactants. Surfactants are charged or uncharged, ionic or nonionic. Charged surfactants are furtlier classified as to whetlier tire amphipatliic portion is anionic, cationic or zwitterionic. Anotlier physical classification scheme is based upon overall size and molecular weight. Copolymeric nonionic surfactants may reach sizes corresponding to 10 000-20 000 Daltons. Physical state is anotlier important physical property, as surfactants may be obtained as crystalline solids, amoriDhous pastes or liquids under standard conditions. The number of tailgroups in a surfactant has recently become an important parameter. Many surfactants have eitlier one or two hydrocarbon tailgroups, and recent advances in surfactant science include even more complex assemblies [7, 8 and 9].

Correlation between composition and properties of phosphate ester surfactants was exemplified by octyl phosphate with an optimum of foam inhibition and surfactant properties [301]. In separation and concentration of rare earth metals by liquid surfactant membranes 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester was used as carrier [302]. 

A surfactant was defined in Chapter 8 as an agent, soluble or dispersible in a liquid, which reduces the surface tension of the liquid [1]. It is helpful to visualise surfactant molecules as being composed of opposing solubility tendencies. Thus, those effective in aqueous media typically contain an oil-soluble hydrocarbon-based chain (the hydrophobe) and a smaller water-solubilising moiety which may or may not confer ionic character (the hydrophile). The limitations of space do not permit a comprehensive detailed treatment of the chemistry of surfactants. The emphasis is therefore on a broad-brush discussion of the principal types of surfactant encountered in textile preparation and coloration processes. Comprehensive accounts of the chemistry and properties of surfactants are available [2-13]. A useful and lucid account of the chemistry and technology of surfactant manufacturing processes is given by Davidsohn and Milwidsky [ 14] ... 

Let us first consider an inverted W/O emulsion made of 10% of 0.1 M NaCl large droplets dispersed in sorbitan monooleate (Span 80), a liquid surfactant which also acts as the dispersing continuous phase. At this low droplet volume fraction, the rheological properties of the premixed emulsion is essentially determined by the continuous medium. The rheological behavior of the oil phase can be described as follows it exhibits a Newtonian behavior with a viscosity of 1 Pa s up to 1000 s 1 and a pronounced shear thinning behavior above this threshold value. Between 1000 s 1 and 3000 s1, although the stress is approximately unchanged, the viscosity ratio is increased by a factor of 4. 

Micellar Liquid Chromatography (MLC) uses surfactant solutions as mobile phases for reversed phase liquid chromatography. The two main properties of surfactant molecules, as related to chromatography, are micelle formation and adsorption at interfaces. The micelles play the role of the organic modifier, so their influence on retention has been extensively studied (1). At surfactant concentrations above the critical micellar concentration (CMC), micelles are present and the amount of free surfactant is essentially... 

For a pure supercritical fluid, the relationships between pressure, temperature and density are easily estimated (except very near the critical point) with reasonable precision from equations of state and conform quite closely to that given in Figure 1. The phase behavior of binary fluid systems is highly varied and much more complex than in single-component systems and has been well-described for selected binary systems (see, for example, reference 13 and references therein). A detailed discussion of the different types of binary fluid mixtures and the phase behavior of these systems can be found elsewhere (X2). Cubic ecjuations of state have been used successfully to describe the properties and phase behavior of multicomponent systems, particularly fot hydrocarbon mixtures (14.) The use of conventional ecjuations of state to describe properties of surfactant-supercritical fluid mixtures is not appropriate since they do not account for the formation of aggregates (the micellar pseudophase) or their solubilization in a supercritical fluid phase. A complete thermodynamic description of micelle and microemulsion formation in liquids remains a challenging problem, and no attempts have been made to extend these models to supercritical fluid phases. 

Another property of surfactants is their ability to aggregate in solution to form various composite structures or phase states, such as micelles and liquid crystals, as... 

In this chapter we will see how the surface activity of a molecule is related to its molecular structure and look at the properties of some surfactants which are commonly used in pharmacy. We will examine the nature and properties of films formed when water-soluble surfactants accumulate spontaneously at liquid/air interfaces and when insoluble surfactants are spread over the surface of a liquid to form a monolayer. We will look at some of the factors that influence adsorption onto solid surfaces and how experimental data from adsorption experiments may be analysed to gain information on the process of adsorption. An interesting and useful property of surfactants is that they may form aggregates or micelles in aqueous solutions when their concentration exceeds a critical concentration. We will examine why this should be so and some of the factors that influence micelle formation. The ability of micelles to solubilise water-insoluble drugs has obvious pharmaceutical importance and the process of solubilisation and its applications will be examined in some detail. 

The current state OF THE ART of various aspects of macro- and microemulsions is reflected in this volume. The symposium upon which this volume is based was organized in six sessions emphasizing major areas of research. Major topics discussed include a review of macro- and microemulsions, enhanced oil recovery, reactions in microemulsions, multiple emulsions, viscoelastic properties of surfactant solutions, liquid crystalline phases in emulsions and thin films, photochemical reactions, and kinetics of microemulsions. 

H0(CH2CH20)n[CH(CH3)CH20]n(CH2CH20)nH Properties Liquid nonionic surfactant polymer. TM for a bloat preventing veterinary drug. 

The formation of lyotropic liquid-crystal mesophase depends on the structure and properties of surfactant, solvent, and reaction conditions. Although studies on lyotropical liquid crystals have been carried out for many years, the structure and properties of some mesophases are still not very clear. Since lyotropic liquid crystals rely on a subtle balance of intermolecular interactions, it is difficult to analyse their structures and properties, the boundary in the phase diagram may be not accurate and the minor phase may be missed. 

One of the important properties of surfactants that is directly related to micelle formation is solubilization. Solubilization may be defined as the spontaneous dissolving of a substance (solid, liquid, or gas) by reversible interaction with the micelles of a surfactant in a solvent to form a thermodynamically stable isotropic solution with reduced thermodynamic activity of the solubilized material. Although both solvent-soluble and solvent-insoluble materials may be dissolved by the solubilization mechanism, the importance of the phenomenon from the practical point of view is that it makes possible the dissolving of substances in solvents in which they are normally insoluble. For example, although ethylbenzene is normally insoluble in water, almost 5 g of it may be dissolved in 100 mL of a 0.3 M aqueous solution of potassium hexadecanoate to yield a clear solution. 

As mentioned above the adsorption dynamic at liquid-liquid is considered, the partitioning of the surfactants between the two phases has an important role. In spite of the good knowledge of the adsorption dynamics at solution surfaces, only a few investigations have been devoted to the study of dynamic and equilibrium adsorption properties of surfactants at liquid-liquid interfaces. 

Part Two, Surfactants, contains chapters on the four major classes of surfactants, i.e. anionics, nonionics, cationics and zwitterionics, as well as chapters on polymeric surfactants, hydrotropes and novel surfactants. The physico-chemical properties of surfactants and properties of liquid crystalline phases are the topics of two comprehensive chapters. The industrially important areas of surfactant-polymer systems and environmental aspects of surfactants are treated in some detail. Finally, one chapter is devoted to computer simulations of surfactant systems. 

The two main properties of surfactant molecules are micelle formation and adsorption at interfaces. In Micellar Liquid Chromatography (MLC), the micelle formation property is linked to the mobile phase. Micelles play the role of the organic modifier in RPLC. Nonpolar solutes partition themselves between the micelle apolar core and the apolar bonded stationary phase. This partitioning will be the subject of Chapter 5. The surfactant adsorption property is linked to the stationary phase. A significant number of surfactant molecules may adsorb on the stationary phase surface changing its properties. The study of such adsorption and its associated problems is the main subject of this chapter. 

Fractional gas holdup is an indication of the effective interfacial area in any gas-liquid system. Detailed discussion on fractional gas holdup in stirred reactors is available in Section 7A.5. Analogous to other parameters, the gas holdup is also a function of the operating parameters (superficial gas velocity, type of impeller and its size/position in the reactor, etc.) and system properties (liquid-phase viscosity, surface tension, solid density and loading, presence of surfactant, etc.). As discussed in Section 7A.5, YawaUcar et al. (2002a) have been able to obtain a unique correlation for the gas holdup using the concept of relative dispersion N/N ... 

Alkylbenzene sulfonates and alkylnaphthalene sulfonates act as hydrotropes to modify solubilities, viscosities, and other properties of surfactants and surfactant formulations. Sodium toluenesulfo-nate (STS) and sodium xylene sulfonate (SXS) are the best-known hydrotropes, however, alkylnaphthalene snlfonates also possess hydrotropic properties. Hydrotropicity is the amount of different hydrotropes required to achieve clear solutions. The amount of different hydrotropes, for example, SXS, STS, sodium cumene sulfonate (SCS), and others, in light-duty liquid (LDL) detergent formulations is given in Figure 14.1. There seems to be no trend different hydrotropes are (more or less) similarly efficient in different formulations. 

Several other examples may be found in the literature, in which a correlation between the interfacial viscosity of macromolecular stabilized films with droplet stability was found. However, there are also a number of cases where stable emulsions could be prepared without any significant interfacial viscosity or elasticity. It can be concluded, therefore, that one should be careful in using interfacial rheology as a predictive test for emulsion stability. Other factors, such as film drainage and thickness, may be more important. In spite of these limitations, interfacial rheology offers a powerful tool for understanding the properties of surfactant and macromolecular films at the liquid/liquid interface. In cases where a correlation between the interfacial viscosity and/or elasticity and emulsion stability is found, one could use these measurements to screen various other components that have a marked effect on these parameters. 

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