Sensitivity Enhancement of the Fluorometric Determination of Aluminum by the Use of Surfactant

Abstract

The effects of surfactants on fluorescence analysis were studied. The addition of surfactants to a metal complex solution causes a remarkable enhancement of fluorescence. By means of such phenomenon the sensitivity of the fluorometric determination of aluminum was increased about six-fold over conventional methods. From the stability of the chelate complex in the presence of surfactant and the degree of enhancement of fluorescence, the nonionic surfactant was judged to be the most useful of the types of surfactants: cationic, anionic and nonionic. An ultramicro amount of aluminum, 5 × 10^?10 g Al/ml, could be determined by the proposed method.     

Study of Partitioning and Solubilization of Some New Chalcones Between Aqueous and Micellar Phases

The partitioning behavior of four newly synthesized chalcones between aqueous and micellar phases of ionic surfactants (SDS and CTAB) was investigated using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The simple absorption spectra were recorded to study the interaction between these drugs and surfactants (in the concentration range below critical micelle concentration to above critical micelle concentration). The absorption data is also used to determine the number of additive molecules incorporated per micelle of the surfactant. The partition coefficient (K_x) of additives between bulk water phase and the micellar phase was determined in the range of 5.52 × 10⁺⁴ to 5.06 × 10⁺⁵ at 298 K by differential spectroscopic method. The corresponding standard free energy of partition ΔG°_p obtained was in the range of ?27.05 kJmol^?1 to ?32.54 kJmol^?1. The relative solubility of additives between aqueous and micellar phases in different micellar concentrations was also estimated. The results showed that the chalcones are preferably soluble in cationic surfactant micelles.     

Interaction between polymer and anionic/nonionic surfactants and its mechanism of enhanced oil recovery

Various experimental methods were used to investigate interaction between polymer and anionic/nonionic surfactants and mechanisms of enhanced oil recovery by anionic/nonionic surfactants in the present paper. The complex surfactant molecules are adsorbed in the mixed micelles or aggregates formed by the hydrophobic association of hydrophobic groups of polymers, making the surfactant molecules at oil-water interface reduce and the value of interfacial tension between oil and water increase. A dense spatial network structure is formed by the interaction between the mixed aggregates and hydrophobic groups of the polymer molecular chains, making the hydrodynamic volume of the aggregates and the viscosity of the polymer solution increase. Because of the formation of the mixed adsorption layer at oil and water interface by synergistic effect, ultra-low interfacial tension (～2.0?×?10^?3 mN/m) can be achieved between the novel surfactant system and the oil samples in this paper. Because of hydrophobic interaction, wettability alteration of oil-wet surface was induced by the adsorption of the surfactant system on the solid surface. Moreover, the studied surfactant system had a certain degree of spontaneous emulsification ability (D50?=?25.04?µm) and was well emulsified with crude oil after the mechanical oscillation (D50?=?4.27?µm).     

Use of surfactants to remove water-based inks from plastic film: effect of calcium ion concentration and length of surfactant hydrophobe

Effective plastic film deinking could permit the reuse of recycled polymer to produce clear film, reduce solid waste for landfills, reduce raw material demand for polymer production, and aid process economics. In this study, the deinking of a commercial polyethylene film printed with water-based ink was studied using surfactants in the presence of hardness ions (calcium ions) at various pH levels. The electrostatic properties of ink particles in a washing bath were also investigated. Synthetic anionic surfactant or fatty acid soap in the presence of calcium ions at alkaline pH levels was found to be nearly as effective at deinking as cationic, nonionic, or amphoteric surfactants alone. However, adding calcium ions decreases the deinking effectiveness of cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric surfactants. Increasing the length of the ionic surfactant hydrophobe enhances deinking. Zeta potential measurements showed that water-based ink particles in water reach the point of zero charge (PZC) at a pH of about 3.6, above which ink particles are negatively charged, so cationic surfactant tends to adsorb better on the ink than anionic surfactant above the PZC in the absence of calcium. As the cationic surfactant concentration is varied between 0.005 and 25 mM, the zeta potential of the ink particles reverses from negative to positive owing to adsorption of cationic surfactant. For anionic surfactants, added calcium probably forms a bridge between the negatively charged ink and the negatively charged surfactant head groups, which synergizes adsorption of the surfactant and aids deinking. In contrast, calcium competes for adsorption sites with cationic and nonionic surfactants, which inhibits deinking. All the surfactants studied here disperse ink particles effectively in the washing bath above pH 3 except for the ethoxylated amine surfactant.     

Kinetics and Equilibria of Synthesized Anionic Surfactant onto Berea Sandstone

We present static adsorption studies of anionic surfactants on crushed Berea sandstone. The maximum adsorption density was 0.9604 mg/g. The kinetics of adsorption process was modeled using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order rate equations at 25°C and 70°C. The equilibrium adsorption process was validated using Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models. In addition, the effects of different parameters that govern the effectiveness of these surfactants such as pH and temperature were also investigated. The kinetic study results show that the surfactant adsorption is a time dependent process. The apparent rate constant of adsorption process determined by the first-order kinetic model at 25°C and 70°C were 0.11768 and ?0.04513, respectively. The rate constant for pseudo-second-order kinetic model was 0.0086 at 25°C and 0.0101 at 70°C. The adsorption of anionic surfactant followed pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Freundlich and Langmuir model constant were 1.6509 × 10^?4 and ?9.775 × 10^?5, respectively. The equilibrium results showed that the adsorption of anionic surfactant onto Berea sandstone was well described by Langmuir adsorption model. It was concluded that anionic surfactants performed better at higher pH and temperature.      

Binding on strong polyelectrolytes of mixed ionic and nonionic surfactants below their critical micelle concentration observed by fluorescence

The binding of mixed surfactants of cationic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and nonionic octaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C ₁₂E ₈) on anionic polyelectrolyte poly[2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (PAMPS)] and fluorophore-labeled copolymers containing about 40 mol% of AMPS was investigated at different mole fractions, Y , of CTAB in the surfactant mixture. The excimer emission of the cationic probe 1-pyrenemethylamine hydrochloride (PyMeA·HCl), nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) between pyrene and naphthalene labels and I ₁/ I ₃ of the pyrene label were determined by varying the total surfactant concentration, c _Surf. The I _E/ I _M value of PyMeA·HCl firstly increases and then decreases to 0 with c _Surf, showing a maximum on every curve. The critical aggregation concentration of the mixed surfactants determined from the I _E/ I _M maximum decreased from 5×10 ^-5 to 1×10 ^-5 mol/l as Y increased from 0.1 to 0.50, and then leveled off as Y increased up to unity. And at least 5×10 ^-6 mol/l CTAB was required for the mixed surfactants to bind on the PAMPS cooperatively. Equimolar binding of CTAB on AMPS was formed at I _E/ I _M=0 when Y =0.25, while at Y =0.1 some CTAB molecules in the mixed micelle were directed to the water phase without binding with AMPS. Both the intramolecular and the intermolecular NRET increased and then decreased with c _Surf, having a maximum on each curve corresponding to the equimolar binding of CTAB and AMPS so long as Y >0, indicating the coiling of the chain and interchain aggregation upon bound surfactants. The I _Py/ I _Np value at the maximum decreased with decreasing Y because more nonionic surfactant C ₁₂E ₈ participated into the polyelectrolyte-mixed surfactant complexes together with bound CTAB.     

Determination of Anionic Surfactant in Fresh Water and in Sea Water

Ion pairs formed from suitable cationic dye and anionic surfactant in water were separated by solvent extraction. The extracts were used subsequently for spectrophotometric determinations. The extraction of ion pairs with various combinations is described. Of the dyes and solvents examined, ethyl violet and p-xylene are the most useful combination as the cationic dye and extraction solvent. The extracts are determined spectrophotometrically at 611.5 nm; the molar absorptivity is 1, 01 × 10⁵ M^?1 cm^?1. The detection limit is 1.4 ppb in water. The method is simple, rapid and sensitive. It can also be applied to the determination of anionic surfactants in sea water.     

Adsorption of mixtures of nonionic sugar-based surfactants with other surfactants at solid/liquid interfaces II. Adsorption of n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside with a cationic surfactant and a nonionic ethoxylated surfactant on solids

Synergy and antagonism between sugar-based surfactants, a group of environmentally benign surfactants, and cationic surfactants and nonionic ethoxylated surfactants have been investigated in this study with solids which adsorbs only one or other when presented alone. Sugar-based n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside (DM) does not adsorb on silica by itself. However, in mixtures with cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and nonionic nonylphenol ethoxylated decyl ether (NP-10), DM adsorbs on silica through hydrophobic interactions. In contrast, although DM does adsorb on alumina, the presence of NP-10 reduces the adsorption of DM as well as that of the total surfactant adsorption. Such synergistic/antagonistic effects of sugar-based n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside (DM) in mixtures with other surfactants at solid/liquid interfaces were systematically investigated and some general rules on synergy/antagonism in mixed surfactant systems are identified. These results have implications for designing surfactant combinations for controlled adsorption or prevention of adsorption.     

Influence of the pH on the Formation of the Catanionic n-Tetradecylammonium Cholate Surfactant Salt

The catanionic n-tetradecylammonium cholates, with the 1:1 and 1:2 cationic:anionic surfactant molar ratio, have been synthesized by reaction of tetradecylammonium chloride and sodium cholate. The stoichiometry of the compounds formed is strongly dependent on pH of the aqueous reaction solution. In the neutral and slightly acidic medium the isolated surfactant was detected as 1:1, at acidic medium (pH ≈ 3) as 1:2, while the cholic acid alone precipitated from the strong acidic solution (pH ≈ 2). The catanionic surfactants have been characterized by elemental and spectroscopic (IR, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR) analyses, and microscopic observations. The mole fractions of individual components in precipitate present in the heterogeneous aqueous system have been determined as a function of pH. The data interpretation in the pH regions where two different kinds of precipitates coexist pointed to the complex equilibrium in the examined systems. The evaluation of the relevant equilibrium constants was solved by the nonlinear regression analysis. In the acidic region where cholic acid and 1:2 precipitate coexisted the equilibrium constants of dissolution were K ₁ = 8.4 × 10^?10 and K ₄ = 3.7 × 10^?27, respectively. In the region where 1:2 and 1:1 precipitate coexisted the equilibrium constant of dissolution of 1:1 tetradecylammonium cholate was K ₂ = 4.2 × 10^?20.     

Properties and Extraction for [Ni(NH3)6]2+ of ATPS-a Formed by Aqueous Cationic–Anionic Surfactant Mixtures

The properties and extraction for [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ of anionic aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS-a) that formed in mixtures of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and excess sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) aqueous solutions were investigated. The results showed that the properties and extraction effects were strongly affected by the surfactant concentration, the temperature of system, and the mole fraction of surfactants. The increase of temperature induces narrower phase region and larger phase volume ratio. In addition, [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ was extracted into the surfactant-rich phase with higher distribution coefficient when the liquid crystal had the birefringent properties. Moreover, the distribution coefficient can be improved through reducing the concentration of surfactant from 0.15 to 0.05 mol · L^?1 or increasing mole fraction of CTAB from 21.9% to 23.1%. The results showed that ATPS of cationic–anionic surfactants was efficient for [Ni(NH₃)₆]²⁺ extraction with distribution coefficients of 13.5 when the total surfactant concentration was 0.05 mol · L^?1, mole fraction of CTAB was 21%, and temperature was 34°C.     

Evaluation of Surface Active Properties and Voltammetric Characterizations of Some New Anionic Copolymer Surfactants

The onset of micelles formations critical micelle concentration, diffusion coefficients as well as particle sizes for some new synthesized anionic copolymer surfactants PSA_4a, PSA_4b, and PSA_4c, were determined and discussed. Three different electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), rotating disk voltammetry (RDV), and chronocoulometry (CC) were used in this investigation. The voltammetry of electroactive hydrophobic probe ferrocene solubilized surfactants was investigated in aqueous buffer carbonate solutions of pH 10. The CMC for each PSA_4a, PSA_4b, and PSA_4c, was found to be 3.20 × 10^?4, 4.60 × 10^?4 and 6.30 × 10^?4 M, respectively, using both CV and RDV techniques. The amount of adsorption contribution of ferrocene solubilized surfactants at the glassy carbon electrode was determined from chronocoulometric measurements and it was found in the range from (1.4 to 2.7) × 10^?15 M. The apparent diffusion coefficients were estimated from RDV measurements and the real micelles diffusion coefficients were obtained. Re-quilibrium considerations of ferrocene probe kinetics at the electrode surface were treated according to two different modes of slow- and fast-kinetics. The corrected diffusion coefficient values showed constancy at (5.3 ± 0.1) × 10^?7, (4.8 ± 0.1) × 10^?7, and (3.6 ± 0.4) × 10^?7 cm²/sec for PSA_4a, PSA_4b, and PSA_4c, respectively in the concentration range from 20 to 200 mM. The morphological features of anionic copolymeric surfactants PSA_4a, PSA_4b, and PSA_4c, micelles showed globular self-assembled structure.     

Xylenol Orange,Zirconium(IV) and Fluoride Color Reaction in Mixed Micelles of N-Hexadecylpyridinium Chloride and Brij 35, and Its Analytical Application1

Abstract

The color reaction between Xylenol orange (XO), zirconium (IV) and fluoride ions in the presence of various surfactants alone or in combination was studied at various pH. The XO -zirconium)IV)-fluoride ion ternary complex in mixed micellar media containing a low concentration of N-hexadecylpyridinium chloride (HPC) as a cationic surfactant and large amounts of (poly{oxyethylene)dodecyl ether (Brij 35) as a nonionic surfactant at weakly acidic media was found to be the most stable, and showed a remarkable bathochromic shift and clear contrast against a reagent blank. The maximum absorbance was at 600 nm in the mixed micellar media at pH 3.5, and the apparent molar absorptivities at 600 nm were 7.0 × 10⁴ 1 mol^?1 cm^?1 for zirconium(IV) and 1.4 × 10⁴ 1 mol^?1 cm^?1 for fluoride ion. The calibration curves covered the ranges of 0.5 ～ 20.0 μg/10 ml zirconium! IV) and 0 ～ 20.0 μg/10 ml fluoride ion with the Sandell sensitivities being 0.0013 μg/cm² for zirconium(IV) and 0.0016 μg/cm² for fluoride ion.     

Aqueous polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by the bromate–thiourea redox system

The aqueous polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by an acidified bromate–thiourea redox system has been studied under nitrogen atmosphere. The rate of polymerization is independent of thiourea concentration over the range 2–9 × 10^?3M and reaches maximum at 9 × 10^?3M. The rate varies linearly with [monomer]. The initial rate of polymerization as well as the maximum conversion increases within the range of 4–22.5 × 10^?3M KBrO₃, but beyond 22.5 × 10^?3M the rate of polymerization decreases. The initial rate and the limiting conversion increases with increasing polymerization temperature in the range 30–45°C; and beyond 45°C they decrease. The effect of certain neutral salts, water-soluble solvents, and micelles of cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants on the rate of polymerization has been investigated.     

Rheological properties of the aqueous solution for fluorocarbon‐containing hydrophobically modified sodium polyacrylic acid with various surfactants

The interaction of fluorocarbon‐ containing hydrophobically modified sodium polyacrylic acid (FMPAANa) (0.5 wt%) with various surfactants (anionic, nonionic and cationic) has been investigated by rheological measurements. Different rheological behaviors are displayed for ionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants. Fluorinated surfactants have stronger affinity with polyelectrolyte hydrophobes comparing with hydrogenated surfactants. The hydrophobic association of FMPAANa with a cationic surfactant (CTAB) and a fluorinated nonionic surfactant (FC171) is much stronger than with a nonionic surfactant (NP7. 5) and an anionic surfactant (FC143). Further investigation of the effects of temperature on solution properties shows that the dissociation energy E_m is correlated to the strength of the aggregated junctions.     

Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry of Rifamycins at Unmodified and Surfactant‐Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes

The electrochemical behavior of the antibiotics rifampicin and rifamycin SV is investigated by cyclic voltammetry at carbon paste and in situ surfactant modified carbon paste electrodes. Both antibiotics adsorb on the unmodified electrodes and show a reversible redox process due to the oxidation of the 6,9‐dihydroxynaphthalene moiety to the corresponding naphthoquinone. This process is used as analytical signal for developing adsorptive voltammetric methods for the determination of the antibiotics. Experimental parameters, such as pH of the supporting electrolyte, accumulation potential and time are optimized. After accumulation from acidic solutions (0.1 M KCl pH 2 or HCl 0.2 M) at ?0.1 or 0 V for 3 min, the differential pulse oxidation peak current changes linearly with the antibiotic concentration in the range 3.5×10^?10 M ?5.4×10^?9 M or 5×10^?11 M ?1.0×10^?9 M for rifampicin and rifamycin SV, respectively. Rifamycin SV is not accumulated on carbon paste electrodes modified in situ with the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate, whereas rifampicin is readily accumulated on this modified electrodes resulting in a signal enhancement and allowing rifampicin determinations without interference from rifamycin SV. On the other hand, selective determination of rifamycin SV in the presence of rifampicin is achieved by using carbon paste electrodes in situ modified with the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium chloride.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the redox reaction between malachite green and iron(III) in aqueous and micellar media

The kinetics of the oxidation of malachite green (MG⁺) by Fe(III) were investigated spectrophotometrically by monitoring the absorbance change at 618 nm in aqueous and micellar media at a temperature range 20–40 °C; I = 0.10 mol dm^?3 for [H⁺] range (2.50–15.00) × 10^?4 mol dm^?3. The rate of reaction increases with increasing [H⁺]. The reaction was carried out under pseudo-first-order conditions by taking the [Fe(III)] (>10-fold) the [MG⁺]. A mechanism of the reaction between malachite green and Fe(III) is proposed, and the rate equation derived from the mechanism was consistent with the experimental rate law as follows: Rate = (k ₄ + K ₁ k ₅[H⁺]) [MG⁺][Fe(III)]. The effect of surfactants, such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB, a cationic surfactant) and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS, an anionic surfactant), on the reaction rate has been studied. CTAB has no effect on the rate of reaction while SDS inhibits it. Also, the effect of ligands on the reaction rate has been investigated. It is proposed that electron transfer proceeds through an outer-sphere mechanism. The enthalpy and the entropy of the activation were calculated using the transition state theory equation.     

Study of mixtures of n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside with anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactant in aqueous solutions using surface tension and fluorescence techniques

Surfactants of practical interest are invariably mixtures of different types. In this study, mixtures of sugar-based n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside with cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, anionic sodium dodecylsulfate, and nonionic pentaethyleneglycol monododecyl ether in solution, with and without supporting electrolyte, have been studied using surface tension and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. Interaction parameters and mole fraction of components in mixed micelles were calculated using regular solution theory. The magnitude of interactions between n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and other surfactants followed the order anionic/nonionic > cationic/nonionic > nonionic/nonionic mixtures. Since all surfactants have the same hydrophobic groups, strengths of interactions are attributed to the structures of hydrophilic headgroups. Electrolyte reduced synergism between n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and ionic surfactant due to charge neutralization. Industrial sugar-based surfactant, dodecyl polyglucoside, yielded results similar to that with dodecyl maltoside, implying that tested commercial alkyl polyglucosides are similar to the pure laboratory samples in synergistic interactions with other surfactants. Fluorescence study not only supported the cmc results using tensiometry, but showed that interfaces of all the above mixed micelle/solution interfaces are mildly hydrophobic. Based on these results, an attempt is made to discover the nature of interactions to be a combination of intermolecular potential energies and free energy due to packing of surfactant molecules in micelles.     

Simple and fast voltammetric procedure of U(VI) determination in the presence of high concentrations of surface active substances

In this work, a simple and fast procedure for elimination of interfering surface active substances and for U(VI) adsorptive stripping voltammetric determination was developed. The adsorption in the form of U(VI)-cupferron complexes was performed, because as it was proved before, U(VI) forms with cupferron stable complexes, which were employed in voltammetric procedures. The procedure is based on two steps: the first is an adsorption of surface active substances onto an Amberlite XAD-16 or XAD-7 resin and the second is a voltammetric determination of U(VI) with a pulsed potential of accumulation alternate –0.65–0.3 V with the frequency of 0.5 Hz and then the differential pulse voltammogram was recorded, whereas the potential was scanned from –0.65 to –1.2 V. The detection limit estimated from three times the standard deviation for a low U(VI) concentrations was equal to 1.7 × 10^?10 mol L^?1 (7.2 × 10^?8 g L^?1). The linear range of U(VI) was observed over the concentration range from 5.0 × 10^?10 mol L^?1 (2.1 × 10^?7 g L^?1) to 2.0 × 10^?8 mol L^?1 (8.5 × 10^?6 g L^?1) for an accumulation time of 60 s. The influence of different kinds of surfactants, such as non-ionic, cationic and anionic on the uranium voltammetric signal was studied. The results confirm the possibility of U(VI) determination in water samples containing high concentrations of surface active substances even up to 50 mg L^?1.     

Spectrophotometric determination of cationic surfactants by formation of ternary complexes with Fe(III) and chrome azurol

An extraction-free spectrophotometric method for the determination of cationic surfactants, such as cetylpyridinium chloride, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and zephiramine is proposed, which is based on the formation of ternary complexes with Fe(III) and chrome azurol S. The molar ratio of the complex is 2:1:1 (Fe(III):chrome azurol S: cationic surfactant). The method is simple, rapid and sensitive, giving an apparent molar absorptivity of 4.5×10⁴ L·mol^?1-cm^?1 and a linear range of 0.1–6.0 μmol/L cationic surfactants. The total cationic surfactant content can be determined directly in aqueous solutions by measuring the absorbance at 680 nm (pH 5.8). The method has been successfully applied to water samples.     

The effect of froth stability and wettability on the flotation of a xerographic toner

The Separation of ink and pulp fibers in recycled paper is primarily achieved by flotation methods. Xerographic toners from photocopiers and laser printers are known to cause problems in flotation deinking. Wettability and froth stability are two important factors which determine the floatability of xerographic toners. The floatability is investigated for a selected toner using a cationic, a nonionic, and an anionic surfactant. At low surfactant concentrations the froth is too unstable to support flotation, whereas at high surfactant concentrations the toner is rendered hydrophilic by adsorbed surfactant molecules and does not stick to air bubbles. Consequently, a maximum in flotation response is found at an intermediate surfactant concentration near the critical micelle concentration. Cationic, nonionic, and anionic surfactants all adsorb with their hydrocarbon tails on the toner surface. By choosing appropriate froth-stabilizing additives it is possible to enhance the flotation performance.