Surfactant performance, critical parameters

Several other studies were performed using both precipitate and adsorbing colloid flotation which used various surfactants and pH values. It was found that a critical parameter was the pH at which the chromium was precipitated. If the pH were too high, the flotation resulted in poor removal. 

Other surfactant physical properties and performance parameters such as critical micelle concentration, cloud point, and interfacial tension may be related to surfactant chemical structure using multiple correlation analysis. 

The research on aggregation of surfactants in nonaqueous, polar solvent systems can be motivated, mainly, with two different arguments. First, are the basic considerations of amphiphile aggregation involving a description of the hydrophobic interaction leading to, for example, micelle and liquid crystal formation. What can be learned from comparing water with other polar solvents Much work has been performed to elucidate those properties of the solvent that are essential in order to obtain a hydrophobic (or solvophobic ) interaction. Comparisons of critical micelle concentrations in different solvents with parameters characterizing the solvent are numerous in the literature [1,2],... 

Vigon B.W. and Rubin AJ. (1989) evaluated surfactant selection and dose optimization through evaluation of parameters such as surface tension, cmc. extent of hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance, solubilizaton efficiency, and partition coefficient. Chu W. and So W.S. (2000) has studied the surfactant aided soil washing of some contaminated non-chlorinated aromatic dyes. They concluded that dye concentration increased slightly until the surfactant monomers in the bulk solution was saturated the washing performance was 1 1 proportional to the monomer concentration. Above the effective critical micelle concentration (as the result of the sorption of surfactant monomer onto soil), the soilwashing performance increased linearly with increasing available surfactant micelles in the aqueous phase. 

There are several important physical and chemical parameters that characterize a surfactant and determine how it will perform in a dishwashing detergent. These parameters inclnde its critical micelle concentration, ability to pack at an air, oil, or solid interface, and ability to lower interfacial tension. Yet another important parameter is the extent to which varions snrfactants interact with each other to provide synergistic benefits. These fundamental characteristics determine how well the surfactant or snrfactant mixture will remove grease, how well it will foam, and even how irritating/mild it will be on hands. 

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