Joanna Krawczyk

Macroscopic and Microscopic Properties of Some Surfactants and Biosurfactants

The adsorption of surfactants at the water-air and solid-water interfaces and their wetting properties decide their practical applications. Therefore the adsorption of monorhamnolipid, surfactin, n-octyl-β-d-glucopyranoside, n-dodecyl-β-d-glucopyranoside, n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside, sucrose monodecanoate, sucrose monododecanoate, Tween 20, Tween 60, and Tween 80 at the water-air, polytetrafluoroethylene-water, polyethylene-water, poly(methyl methacrylate)-water, polyamide-water, and quartz-water interfaces, their tendency to form micelles as well as their wetting properties, were considered in the light of their microscopic properties. For this purpose, the components and parameters of the surfactant tail and head, water and solids surface tension, and surfactant contactable area with adherent medium were applied for prediction of surfactant-surfactant and surfactant-solid interactions through the water phase with regard to their adsorption, micellization, and wetting processes. Next, the Gibbs free energy of interactions was compared to the Gibbs free energy of surfactant adsorption at the water-air and solid-water interfaces as well as the micellization. It appeared that from the surfactant-surfactant and surfactant-solid interactions through the water phase determined on the basis of the tail and head of surfactant surface tension, it is possible to predict the surfactant tendency to adsorb at the water-air and solid-water interfaces, as well as to form micelles.

Wetting properties of the sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) and polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether (Brij 35) binary mixtures in the poly(tetrafluoroethylene)-solution-air system

Abstract Wettability of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) by aqueous solutions of binary mixtures composed of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) with polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether (Brij 35) was considered on the basis of the measured values of contact angle and surface tension. It was shown that the value of the critical surface tension of PTFE surface wetting at the studied system (23.5 mN/m), does not depend on the concentration and composition of the binary mixtures of studied surfactants in water, and it was higer than the surface tension of PTFE (20.2 mN/m). The best wettability of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) by studied aqueous solutions of binary surfactants mixtures occurs at the mixtures concentration corresponding to the critical micelle concentration of their solutions.