Surfactant adsorption synthetic surfactants

Adsorption. Many studies have been made of the adsorption of soaps and synthetic surfactants on fibers in an attempt to relate detergency behavior to adsorption effects. Relatively fewer studies have been made of the adsorption of surfactants by soils (57). Plots of the adsorption of sodium soaps by a series of carbon blacks and charcoals show that the fatty acid and the alkaU are adsorbed independently, within limits, although the presence of excess aLkaU reduces the sorption of total fatty acids (58). No straightforward relationship was noted between detergency and adsorption. 

In a study of the adsorption of soap and several synthetic surfactants on a variety of textile fibers, it was found that cotton and nylon adsorbed less surfactant than wool under comparable conditions (59). Among the various surfactants, the cationic types were adsorbed to the greatest extent, whereas nonionic types were adsorbed least. The adsorption of nonionic surfactants decreased with increasing length of the polyoxyethylene chain. When soaps were adsorbed, the fatty acid and the aLkaU behaved more or less independently just as they did when adsorbed on carbon. The adsorption of sodium oleate by cotton has been shown independently to result in the deposition of acid soap (a composition intermediate between the free fatty acid and the sodium salt), if no heavy-metal ions are present in the system (60). In hard water, the adsorbate has large proportions of lime soap. 

In THE PAST DECADE, IMPROVEMENTS IN infrared spectroscopic instrumentation have contributed to significant advances in the traditional analytical applications of the technique. Progress in the application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to physiochemical studies of colloidal assemblies and interfaces has been more uneven, however. While much Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic work has been generated about the structure of lipid bilayers and vesicles, considerably less is available on the subjects of micelles, liquid crystals, or other structures adopted by synthetic surfactants in water. In the area of interfacial chemistry, much of the infrared spectroscopic work, both on the adsorption of polymers or proteins and on the adsorption of surfactants forming so called "self-assembled" mono- and multilayers, has transpired only in the last five years or so. 

Surface modification is broadly used in controlling the surface properties of fillers in rubber, synthetic polymers and other materials (see Chapter IX). The surfactant adsorption layers that make surfaces hydrophobic are used to prevent caking in hygroscopic powders (fertilizers), as anticorrosive agents and in numerous other processes. 

The adsorption phenomena discussed in the previous section utilized amphiphilic molecules of organic surfactants (predominantly synthetic ones). Here, it would be worthwhile to provide a brief description and classification of the most common types of organic surfactants [11-24],... 

The relations mentioned vary greatly among surfactants, which can be classified in various ways. An important distinction is between small-molecule surfactants, for convenience called soaps , and polymers (both synthetic polymers and proteins are used). These differ greatly in properties, as illustrated below. Another distinction is between soluble and insoluble surfactants. In emulsification, surfactants have to be soluble, unless they are rendered insoluble, by chemical modification, after adsorption onto the O-W interface. 

Anielak, R, K. Janio, Adsorption of nonionic surfactants on synthetic adsorbents, Tenside, Surfactants, Deterg., 1990,27,113-117. 

Polar, uncharged surfaces include many of the synthetic polymeric materials such as polyesters, polyamides, and polyacrylates, as well as many natural materials such as cotton. As a result, the mechanism and extent of surfactant adsorption onto such materials have great potential technological importance. The mechanism of adsorption onto these surfaces will be more complex than that of the nonpolar case discussed above, since such factors as orientation will be determined by a balance of several forces. 

The most commonly used emulsifiers are sodium, potassium, or ammonium salts of oleic acid, stearic acid, or rosin acids, or disproportionate rosin acids, either singly or in mixture. An aLkylsulfate or aLkylarenesulfonate can also be used or be present as a stabilizer. A useful stabilizer of this class is the condensation product of formaldehyde with the sodium salt of P-naphthalenesulfonic acid. AH these primary emulsifiers and stabilizers are anionic and on adsorption they confer a negative charge to the polymer particles. Latices stabilized with cationic or nonionic surfactants have been developed for special apphcations. Despite the high concentration of emulsifiers in most synthetic latices, only a small proportion is present in the aqueous phase nearly all of it is adsorbed on the polymer particles. 

MEKC is also performed using cationic, nonionic, and zwitterionic surfactants. Widely employed are cationic surfactant consisting of a long chain tetralkylammonium salt, such as cetyltrimeth-ylammonium bromide, which causes the reversal of the direction of the EOE, due to the adsorption of the organic cation on the capillary wall. Other interesting options include the use of mixed micelles resulting from the simultaneous incorporation into the BGE of ionic and nonionic or ionic and zwitterionic surfactants. Chiral surfactants, either natural as bile salts [207] or synthetic [208] are employed for enantiomer separations. 

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