Controlling the melting of kinetically frozen poly(butyl acrylate-b-acrylic acid) micelles via addition of surfactant

We have studied the melting of polymeric amphiphilic micelles induced by small-molecule surfactant and explained the results by experimental determination of the interfacial tension between the core of the micelles and the surfactant solutions. Poly(n-butyl acrylate-b-acrylic acid) (PBA-b-PAA) amphiphilic diblock copolymers form kinetically frozen micelles in aqueous solutions. Strong interactions with surfactants, either neutral or anionic [C12E6, C6E4, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)], were revealed by critical micelle concentration (cmc) shifts in specific electrode and surface tension measurements. Since both polymer and surfactant are either neutral or bear negative charges, the attractive interactions are not due to electrostatic interactions. Light scattering, neutron scattering, and capillary electrophoresis experiments showed important structural changes in mixed PBA-b-PAA/surfactant systems. Kinetically frozen micelles of PBA-b-PAA, that are hardly perturbed by concentration, ionization, ionic strength, and temperature stresses, can be disintegrated by addition of small-molecule surfactants. The interfacial energy of the PBA in surfactant solutions was measured by drop shape analysis with h-PBA homopolymer drops immersed in small-molecule surfactant solutions. The PBA/water interfacial energy gammaPBA/H2O of 20 mN/m induces a high energy cost for the extraction of unimers from micelles so that PBA-b-PAA micelles are kinetically frozen. Small-molecule surfactants can reduce the interfacial energy gammaPBA/solution to 5 mN/m. This induces a shift of the micelle-unimer equilibrium toward unimers and leads, in some cases, to the apparent disintegration of PBA-b-PAA micelles. Before total disintegration, polymer/surfactant mixtures are dispersions of polydisperse mixed micelles. Based on core interfacial energy arguments, the disintegration of kinetically frozen polymeric micelles was interpreted by gradual fractionation of objects (polydisperse dispersion mechanism), whereas the disintegration of polymeric micelles in a thermodynamically stable state was interpreted by an exchange between a population of large polymer-rich micelles and a population of small surfactant-rich micelles (bidisperse dispersion mechanism). Finally, in our system and other systems from the literature, interfacial energy arguments could explain why the disintegration of polymer micelles is either partial or total as a function of the surfactant type and concentration and the hydrophobic block molar mass of the polymer.     

CMC系列高分子表面活性剂与原油超低界面张力形成机理的研究

采用动态激光光散射及环境扫描电镜研究了羧甲基纤维素系列高分子表面活性剂与大庆原油形成超低界面张力的机理.结果表明,CMC系列高分子表面活性剂具有与低分子量表面活性剂相比拟的表/界面活性,其水溶液的表面张力可达2835mN/m,界面张力达到10^-110mN/m.碱的加入可显著降低高分子表面活性剂与原油的界面张力,在适当条件下界面张力达到超低值(10^-3mN/m),可望作为三次采油的驱油剂.等效烷烃模型研究表明,用碱与原油酸性组分的作用来解释碱能使界面张力下降至超低值的传统观点是不完善的,加入碱能使高分子表面活性剂胶束解缔,胶束数量增多,胶束粒径减小,单分子自由链增加,有利于高分子表面活性剂向界面迁移和排布,这是高分子表面活性剂和碱复配体系与原油界面张力下降至超低值的主要原因.     

Synthesis and surface active properties of a gemini-type surfactant linked by a quaternary ammonium group

In this study, cationic surfactants having multi-hydroxyl groups were synthesized by the condensation reaction of octadec-9-enyl glycidyl ether and methyl amine followed by the quaternization with dimethyl sulfate. The structure of the product was elucidated by ¹H-NMR and FT-IR. The minimum critical micelle concentration (CMC) and surface tension achieved using C18:1-BHDM surfactant were 1.24?×?10^?4?mol/L and 43.36 mN/m, respectively. The interfacial tensions measured between 1 wt% surfactant solution and n-decane were found to be in the same order of magnitude as those exhibited between micellar solutions and nonpolar hydrocarbon oils. The contact angle measurement result suggests that C18:1-BADM is the best wetting agent among the surfactants tested during this study. It has been observed that the results for foam stability measurement are consistent with those of CMC and contact angle. That is, the percentage of foam volume decrease has been observed to increase with an increase in number of hydroxyl group.     

阴离子孪连表面活性剂的合成及其表/界面活性研究

合成了疏水链长度不同和连接基长度不同的7种系列阴离子孪连表面活性剂,研究了它们的表/界面活性。结果表明,它们有较低的表面张力和临界胶束浓度(CMC),有很好的表面活性。它们的CMC都在10-5~10-6mol/L之间,表面张力在26·5~34mN/m之间。它们有非常好的抗一价、二价盐的能力。除了C16-C2-C16在高于5%的NaCl溶液中会产生析出外,其余孪连表面活性剂都能耐盐20%以上。随着盐浓度的增加,孪连表面活性剂与烷烃间的界面张力逐渐降低,能达到10-3mN/m。与中原油田原油间的界面张力能降低到10-3~10-4mN/m,表明它们可应用于特高矿化度油藏提高采收率。     

Lyotropic and interfacial behaviour of an anionic gemini surfactant

The sodium salt of N,N'-hexane-bis (1-dodecen-1-ylsuccinamic acid) is an anionic dimeric (gemini) surfactant. A flooding penetration scan of this surfactant in water demonstrates a sequence of lyotropic phases at room temperature (20 degrees C). Preparation of surfactant-water mixtures has resulted in a phase diagram which shows that the same sequence of phases exists up to 100 degrees C. These phases are tentatively assigned to the sequence: micellar to normal hexagonal (H1) to cubic (V1) to lamellar (Lalpha). The interfacial tension at the n-heptane/water interface has been determined in the presence of this surfactant. The surfactant head group area at the interface is large (2.8+/-0.3 nm2 at 298 K) and the interfacial tension above the critical micelle concentration is low (7 mN m(-1)), but considerably higher than the ultra-low values that have been reported for cationic dimeric surfactants at various hydrocarbon-water interfaces.     

The life of an anise-flavored alcoholic beverage: does its stability cloud or confirm theory?

The well-known alcoholic beverage Pastis becomes turbid when mixed with water due to the poor solubility of trans-anethol, the anise-flavored component of Pastis in the water solution formed. This destabilization appears as the formation of micrometer-sized droplets that only very slowly grow in size, thus expanding the life of the anise-flavored beverage. The slow growth has been attributed to an extremely low interfacial tension of the droplets. Fitting experimental droplet growth rates to an Ostwald ripening model, interfacial tensions were deduced in the past. Direct determination of the interfacial tensions was not yet reported on these systems. We have measured the interfacial tensions and used these data to predict droplet growth rates using an Ostwald ripening model and a model for creaming of the droplets. The interfacial tension was measured to be about 11 mN/m for a 30/70 w/w % ethanol/water mixture, and it decreases slightly to a value of 1.4 mN/m in the case of a 70/30 w/w % ethanol/water mixture. These values are not as low as those deduced in the past. The theoretical predictions for both the Ostwald ripening rates and the creaming rates, using the directly measured interfacial tensions, are found to contradict with the experimental results on Ostwald ripening and creaming. While the experiments on Ostwald ripening show an increase in stability with increasing ethanol concentration, the results based on our interfacial tension measurements in combination with the same Ostwald ripening model show a decrease in stability with an increase in ethanol concentration. Further research is needed to understand fully which parameters play a role in both droplet growth and the stability of these three-component emulsions to elucidate the current discrepancy between model and experiment. This could be useful for a better control of "spontaneous emulsification" processes.     

Interfacial and micellar properties of binary mixtures of surfactant and phospholipid in an aqueous medium

Mixed micelles formed by zwitterionic surfactant dimethyldodecylammniopropane sulfonate and short-chain phospholipid 1,2-diheptanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine in different proportions in an aqueous medium have been studied physicochemically at an air/water interface and in the bulk by using interfacial tension and pyrene fluorescence intensity measurements, respectively. The critical micellar concentration and free energies of micellization and of interfacial adsorption have been determined. The interfacial study reveals that a mixed monolayer is formed at the air/water interface by the adsorption of surfactant and phospholipid monomers. This has been confirmed by evaluating the interfacial parameters; the maximum surface excess, the minimum area per molecule of a surface-active compound, and the Gibbs surface excess related to surface pressure. The nonideality of mixing, expressed in the terms of the regular solution interaction parameter, #, has negative values over the whole mole fraction range. The negative # values indicate the mutual synergism between the surfactant and phospholipid monomers. The equilibrium distribution of components between micelle and monomer phases was evaluated using a theoretical treatment based on excess thermodynamics quantities evaluated by Motomura's formulation.     

Studies of Interfacial Activities of Four Kinds of Surfactants at Oil/Water Interface

This article aims to compare the interfacial activities of different kinds of surfactants in the same oil/water system. The anionic surfactants of alkylbenzene sulfonates, the polyoxyethylenated nonionic surfactants, the cationic surfactants of alkyl trimethyl ammonium chlorides, and the zwitterionic surfactants of alkyl hydroxyl sulfobetaines were used, and the interfacial tensions of the surfactant solutions against kerosene at different NaCl concentrations were measured. It is found that the interfacial activities of the alkylbenzene sulfonates are high and ultralow interfacial tensions (<0.01 mN/m) can be obtained at proper salinities. While, the nonionic surfactants have relatively low interfacial activities and the minimum tensions are around 0.01 mN/ms. The salinity scanning curves of the alkylbenzene sulfonates and nonionic surfactants decrease first, then increase, showing their interfacial activities can be changed by the salinity effectively. The cationic and zwitterionic surfactants have very low interfacial activities, of which all the tensions are higher than 0.1 mN/ms and are hard to be changed by the salinity. The experimental results may have important reference values for enhanced oil recovery.     

Prediction of conformational characteristics and micellar solution properties of fluorocarbon surfactants

A molecular-thermodynamic theory is developed to model the micellization of fluorocarbon surfactants in aqueous solutions, by combining a molecular model that evaluates the free energy of micellization of fluorocarbon surfactant micelles with a previously developed thermodynamic framework describing the free energy of the micellar solution. In the molecular model of micellization developed, a single-chain mean-field theory is combined with an appropriate rotational isomeric state model of fluorocarbon chains to describe the packing of the fluorocarbon surfactant tails inside the micelle core. Utilizing this single-chain mean-field theory, the packing free energies of fluorocarbon surfactants are evaluated and compared with those of their hydrocarbon analogues. We find that the greater rigidity of the fluorocarbon chain promotes its packing in micellar aggregates of low curvatures, such as bilayers. In addition, the mean-field approach is utilized to predict the average conformational characteristics (specifically, the bond order parameters) of fluorocarbon and hydrocarbon surfactant tails within the micelle core, and the predictions are found to agree well with the available experimental results. The electrostatic effects in fluorocarbon ionic surfactant micelles are modeled by allowing for counterion binding onto the charged micelle surface, which accounts explicitly for the effect of the counterion type on the micellar solution properties. In addition, a theoretical formulation is developed to evaluate the free energy of micellization and the size distribution of finite disklike micelles, which often form in the case of fluorocarbon surfactants. We find that, compared to their hydrocarbon analogues, fluorocarbon surfactants exhibit a greater tendency to form cylindrical or disklike micelles, as a result of their larger molecular volume as well as due to the greater conformational rigidity of the fluorocarbon tails. The molecular-thermodynamic theory developed is then applied to several ionic fluorocarbon surfactant-electrolyte systems, including perfluoroalkanoates and perfluorosulfonates with added LiCl or NH(4)Cl, and various micellar solution properties, including critical micelle concentrations (cmc's), optimal micelle shapes, and average micelle aggregation numbers, are predicted. The predicted micellar solution properties agree reasonably well with the available experimental results.     

Revisiting the morphology development of solvent-swollen composite polymer particles at thermodynamic equilibrium

Morphology of polystyrene (PS)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/toluene droplets, in which phase separation proceeds, dispersed in SDS aqueous solution was examined. It changed from ex-centered PS-core/PMMA-shell to hemisphere with increasing SDS concentration. At low polymer weight fraction (wp), PS and PMMA phases contained non-negligible amount of PMMA and PS, respectively. The small amount of PS and PMMA in PMMA and PS phases, respectively, affected significantly the interfacial tension between polymer/toluene and aqueous solutions. Interfacial tension between PS and PMMA phases at low wp was measured by the spinning drop method, showing a quite low value ( approximately 10-2 mN/m). Predicted morphology obtained from calculation of minimum total interfacial free energy of the droplets using the interfacial tensions agreed well with the experimental observation.     

Interfacial and aggregation properties of the binary mixture of decanoyl-N-methyl-glucamide and hexadecyltriphenylphosphonium bromide

The interfacial and aggregation behavior of the nonionic surfactant decanoyl-N-methyl-glucamide (Mega-10) with the cationic surfactant hexadecyltriphenylphosphonium bromide (HTPB) have been studied using interfacial tension measurements and fluorescence techniques. From interfacial tension measurements, the critical micellar concentrations (cmc) and various interfacial thermodynamic parameters have been evaluated. The experimental results were analyzed in the context of the pseudophase separation model, the regular solution theory, and the Maeda’s approach. These approaches allowed us to determine the interaction parameter and composition in the mixed state. By using the static quenching method, the mean micellar aggregation numbers of pure and mixed micelles of HTPB+Mega-10 were obtained. It was found that that the aggregation number decreases with increasing mole fraction of HTPB. This behavior is attributed to the presence of the bulky head group of HTPB, which creates steric head group incompatibility and/or electrostatic repulsion. The micropolarity of the micelle was monitored with pyrene fluorescence intensity ratio. It was observed that the increasing participation of HTPB induces the formation of micelles with a hydrated structure. The polarization of the fluorescent probe Rhodamine B was monitored in micellar medium and found to increase with the increase of ionic content. This behavior suggests the formation of mixed micelles with a more ordered or rigid structure.     

The Self-Association and Mixed Micellization of an Anionic Surfactant,Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate,and a Cationic Surfactant,Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide: Conductometric,Dye Solubilization,and Surface Tension Studies

In the present study, we investigate the self-association and mixed micellization of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SDS, CTAB, and mixed (SDS + CTAB) surfactants was measured by electrical conductivity, dye solubilization, and surface tension measurements. The surface properties (viz., C₂₀ (the surfactant concentration required to reduce the surface tension by 20 mN/m), Π_CMC (the surface pressure at the CMC), Γ_max (maximum surface excess concentration at the air/water interface), and A_min (the minimum area per surfactant molecule at the air/water interface)) of SDS, CTAB, and (SDS + CTAB) micellar/mixed micellar systems were evaluated. The thermodynamic parameters of the micellar (SDS and CTAB), and mixed micellar (SDS + CTAB) systems were evaluated.

A schematic representation of micelles and mixed micelles.     

Small-angle neutron scattering of mixed ionic perfluoropolyether micellar solutions

Aqueous mixed micellar solutions of perfluoropolyether carboxylic salts with ammonium counterions have been studied by small-angle neutron scattering. Two surfactants differing in the tail length were mixed in proportions n2/n3 = 60/40 w/w, where n2 and n3 are the surfactants with two and three perfluoroisopropoxy units in the tail, respectively. The tails are chlorine-terminated. The mixed micellar solutions, in the concentration range 0.1-0.2 M and thermal interval 20-40 degrees C, show structural characteristics of the interfacial shell that are very similar to ammonium n2 micellar solutions previously investigated; thus, the physics of the interfacial region is dominated by the polar head and counterion. The shape and dimensions of the micelles are influenced by the presence of the n3 surfactant, whose chain length in the micelle is 2 A longer than that of the n2 surfactant. The n3 surfactant favors the ellipsoidal shape in the concentration range 0.1-0.2 M with a 1/2 ionization degree of n2 micelles. The very low surface charge of the mixed micelles is attributed to the increase in hydrophobic interactions between the surfactant tails, due to the longer n3 surfactant molecules in micelles. The closer packing of the tails decreases the micellar curvature and the repulsions between the polar heads, by surface charge neutralization of counterions migrating from the Gouy-Chapman diffuse layer, leading to micellar growth in ellipsoids with greater axial ratios.     

Surface tensions in NaCl-water-air systems from MD simulations

Surface tensions for liquid-vapor (lv), solid-liquid (sl), and solid-vapor (sv) interfaces are calculated from molecular dynamics simulations of the NaCl-water-air system. Three distinct calculation techniques based on thermodynamic properties are used to describe the multicomponent mixtures. Simulations of each bulk phase (including a liquid saturated solution) and various interfaces are carried out at both NPT and NVT conditions. The thermodynamic relation for energy difference between interface and bulk phases provides an upper bound to the surface tension, while the energy-integral and test area methods provide direct estimates. At 1 atm and 300 K, the best predictions for surface tensions are sigmasv (NaCl-air) of 114 mN m(-1), sigmasl (NaCl- soln) of 63 mN m(-1), sigmalv (soln-air) of 82 mN m(-1), and sigmalv (water-air) of 66 mN m(-1). The calculated surface tensions from simulations have uncertainties between 5 and 10%, which are higher than measurements for the liquid interfaces and lower than the measurement uncertainty for the solid interfaces. The calculated upper bounds for surface tensions of liquid interfaces compare well with experimental results but provide no improvement over existing measurements. However, the bounding values for solid interfaces lower uncertainty by as much as a factor of 10 as compared to the indirect experimental measurements currently available. The energy-integral and test area methods appear to underestimate the surface tension of water by 10%, which is consistent with previous studies using similar model potentials. The calculated upper bounds of surface tension show a weakly positive correlation with pressure in the 0.1-100 atm range for liquid-solid, liquid-vapor, and solid-vapor interfaces.     

Micellar solutions of sulfobetaine surfactants in water-ethylene glycol mixtures: surface tension, fluorescence, spectroscopic, conductometric, and kinetic studies

Micellization in water-ethylene glycol (EG) N-dodecyl, N-tetradecyl, and N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonio-1-propanesulfonate (SB3-12, SB3-14, and SB3-16, respectively) micellar solutions, with the weight percent of EG changing within the range 0-40, was studied by means of surface tension measurements. Information about the influence of the added EG on the aggregation number of the sulfobetaine micelles and on the polarity of the interfacial region of micelles was obtained through fluorescence and spectroscopic measurements. Surface tension measurements also provide information about the dependence of the surface excess concentration, the minimum area per surfactant molecule, the surface pressure at the cmc, and the standard Gibbs energy of adsorption on the added weight percent of the organic solvent. The Gordon parameter of the water-EG mixtures was also estimated by means of surface tension measurements. The thermodynamic and structural changes originated by the presence of EG control the micellar kinetic effects observed in the reaction methyl 4-nitrobenzenesulfonate + Br(-) occurring in the water-EG sulfobetaine micellar solutions. Information about the distribution of bromide ions between the bulk and micellar pseudophases was obtained through conductivity measurements. The kinetic micellar effects were quantitatively explained by using the pseudophase kinetic model.     

Thermodynamics of the surfaces of nonionic spherical micelles with relatively large extensions of the interfacial layer

The structural properties of nonionic spherical micelles with relatively large extensions of the interfacial layer are investigated, and the size dependences of their adsorption, interfacial tension, and chemical potential are obtained. Such familiar thermodynamic relationships as the Gibbs and Laplace equations, the differential equation for the chemical potential, and the concept of hydrophilic–lipophilic balance are used. The method is applied to micelles formed in surfactant solutions of a homologous series of tetraethylene glycol alkyl ethers. The region of the existence of micellar solutions and the structural characteristics of the interfacial layer of micelles are determined. The interfacial tension minimum corresponding to ideal hydrophilic–lipophilic balance in the micelle interfacial layer is detected. The chemical potential is negative over the range of the homologous series, and its derivative with respect to the tension radius is also negative.

     

A new mechanistic Parachor model to predict dynamic interfacial tension and miscibility in multicomponent hydrocarbon systems

Widely used traditional Parachor model fails to provide reliable interfacial tension predictions in multicomponent hydrocarbon systems due to the inability of this model to account for mass transfer effects between the fluid phases. In this paper, we therefore proposed a new mass transfer enhanced mechanistic Parachor model to predict interfacial tension and to identify the governing mass transfer mechanism responsible for attaining the thermodynamic fluid phase equilibria in multicomponent hydrocarbon systems. The proposed model has been evaluated against experimental data for two gas-oil systems of Rainbow Keg River and Terra Nova reservoirs. The results from the proposed model indicated good IFT predictions and that the vaporization of light hydrocarbon components from crude oil to gas phase is the governing mass transfer mechanism for the attainment of fluid phase equilibria in both the gas-oil systems used. A multiple linear regression model has also been developed for a priori prediction of exponent in the mechanistic model by using only the reservoir fluid compositions, without the need for experimental measurements. The dynamic nature of interfacial tensions observed in the experiments justifies the use of diffusivities in the mechanistic model, thus enabling the proposed model predictions to determine dynamic gas-oil miscibility conditions in multicomponent hydrocarbon systems.     

Effect of Micelle Composition on Acidic Drugs Separation Behavior by Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography

Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC) is a branch of capillary electrophoretic techniques, in which surfactant micelles are added to the electrolyte solution as pseudostationary phase. Separation in MECC is based on electrophoretic mobilities of the analytes when partitioned into micelles1. In this work, four acidic drugs similar in structure with aryl carboxylic acid were separated by MECC. The effects of type of surfactant, such as anionic surfactant SDS, nonionic …     

Water-N,N-dimethylformamide alkyltrimethylammonium bromide micellar solutions: thermodynamic, structural, and kinetic studies

Various amounts of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) with the weight percentage of DMF varying within the range 0-20, were added to aqueous micellar solutions of hexadecyl-, tetradecyl-, and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromides (CTAB, TTAB, and DTAB, respectively). Information about changes in the critical micelle concentrations, in the micellar ionization degrees, in the aggregation numbers, and in the polarity of the interfacial region of micelles upon changing the weight percent of DMF was obtained through conductivity and fluorescence measurements. Surface tension measurements permitted the estimation of the Gordon parameter of the water-DMF mixtures. The thermodynamic and structural changes provoked by the addition of DMF to the cationic micellar solutions were evidenced through the micellar kinetic effects observed in the reaction methyl 4-nitrobenzenesulfonate + Br-, investigated in the water-DMF cationic micellar solutions. The pseudophase kinetic model was adequate to quantitatively rationalize the dependence of the observed rate constant on surfactant concentration as well as on the weight percent of DMF.