Polymerizable cationic gemini surfactant

A polymerizable cationic gemini surfactant, [CH(2)=C(CH(3))COO(CH(2))(11)N(+)CH(3))(2)CH(2)](2).2Br(-), 1 has been synthesized and its basic interfacial properties were investigated (in water and in the presence of 0.05 M NaBr). For comparison, the properties of monomeric surfactant corresponding to 1, CH(2)=C(CH(3))COO(CH(2))(11)N(+)(CH(3))(3).Br(-), 2, were also investigated. Parameters studied include cmc (critical micelle concentration), C(20) (required to reduce the surface tension of the solvent by 20 mN/m), gamma(cmc) (the surface tension at the cmc), Gamma(cmc) (the maximum surface excess concentration at the air/water interface), A(min) (the minimum area per surfactant molecule at the air/water interface), and cmc/C(20) ratio (a measure of the tendency to form micelles relative to adsorb at the air/water interface). For the polymerizable gemini surfactant, 1, the methacryloxy groups at the terminal of each hydrophobic group in a molecule have no contact with the air/water interface in the monolayer, whereas for the corresponding monomeric surfactant, 2, the methacryloxy group contacts at the interface forming a looped configuration like a bolaamphiphile. Polymerized micelles of the gemini surfactant are fairly small monodisperse and spherical particles with a mean diameter of 3 nm.     

Interfacial tension in phase-separated aqueous cationic/anionic surfactant mixtures

Interfacial tensions in two aqueous phase-separated cationic/anionic surfactant mixtures, CTAB/AS and 12-3-12/AS, without and with NaBr added were determined by the spinning drop method at 318.15 K. CTAB, 12-3-12 and AS are the abbreviations for cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, 1,3-propanediyl-bis(dodecyldimethylammonium bromide) and sodium dodecyl sulfonate, respectively. The interfacial tension sigma was found to be in the range of 0.06-21 microNm(-1). Toward a better understanding of the influence of the concentration difference between the separated phases in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) to interfacial tension, compositions of equilibrium phases were determined by elemental analysis coupled with material balance and electroneutrality. The investigation indicates that the concentration differences of surfactant ions between the separated phases and the adsorption of surfactant ions at the interface are the decisive factors determining the magnitude of interfacial tension.     

Observation of a sequence of wetting transitions in the binary water+ethylene glycol monobutyl ether mixture

A homemade pendant drop/bubble tensiometer was assembled and applied to perform the surface-interfacial tension measurements for the binary water+ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (C4E1) mixture over the temperature range from 50 to 128 degrees C at 10 bar. The symbol CiEj is the abbreviation of a nonionic polyoxyethylene alcohol CiH2i+1(OCH2CH2)jOH. The wetting behavior of the C4E1-rich phase at the interface separating the gas and the aqueous phases was systematically examined according to the wetting coefficient calculated from the experimental results of surface/interfacial tensions. It was found that the C4E1-rich phase exhibits a sequence of wetting transitions, nonwetting-->partial wetting-->complete wetting, at the gas-water interface in the water+C4E1 system along with increasing the temperature, consistent with the conjecture of Kahlweit and Busse [J. Chem. Phys. 91, 1339 (1989)]. In addition, the relationship of the mutual solubility and the interfacial tension of the interface separating the C4E1-rich phase and the aqueous phase is discussed.     

Determination of the interfacial characteristics of a series of bolaamphiphilic poly(fluorooxetane) surfactants through molecular dynamics simulation

Constant surface tension (NgammaT) and constant volume (NVT) molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted on a series of bolaamphiphilic alpha,varpi-(diammonium disulfato)poly(fluorooxetane)s and on a typical "long-chain" anionic fluorosurfactant used to improve the flow-and-leveling characteristics of aqueous coatings, to compare their behavior at a water/air interface. Recent research has shown that the poly(fluorooxetane) surfactants considered in this paper could serve as an effective substitute for traditional fluorosurfactants used in flow-and-leveling applications.(1) From molecular dynamics simulation, we have determined the saturated interfacial area per surfactant, interfacial area per surfactant as a function of surface tension, density profiles, the degree of hydration for various atoms in each surfactant, the degree of counterion binding, and order parameters. Our results for saturated interfacial area per surfactant molecule are greater than what has been obtained by other researchers through parametric fitting of interfacial area from experimental surface tension data using the Davies isotherm. Possible explanations for this difference are discussed. The low interfacial areas occupied by each poly(fluorooxetane) at the water/air interface are the result of their ability to adopt a "looped" conformation, in which the carbon and oxygen backbone of each surfactant and the attached perfluoroalkyl chains are forced into the air phase. A geometrically defined penetration parameter was calculated from the density profiles, which reveals that each poly(fluorooxetane) surfactant is more effective at separating the air and water phases than the "long-chain" anionic fluorosurfactant. The degree of hydration measured for different atoms in poly(fluorooxetane) during simulation confirms that a "looped" conformation is adopted in which the surfactant backbone and the perfluoroalkyl chains are lifted away from the water surface. Calculation of order parameters revealed a much lower degree of ordering for the perfluoroalkyl side chains in each bolaamphiphile than in the "long chain" anionic fluorosurfactant. When viewed in the context of the penetration parameter analysis, the density profiles and hydration data suggest why each poly(fluorooxetane) is capable of significantly reducing surface tension when other fluorosurfactants with similarly short perfluoroalkyl moieties provide inadequate surface tension reduction for practical flow-and-leveling applications.     

Dynamical and rheological properties of fluorinated surfactant films adsorbed at the pressurized CO2-H2O interface

The dynamics of adsorption, interfacial tension, and rheological properties of two phosphocholine-derived partially fluorinated surfactants FnHmPC, designed to compensate for the weak CO(2)-surfactant tail interactions, were determined at the pressurized CO(2)-H(2)O interface. The two surfactants differ only by the length of the hydrocarbon spacer (5 CH(2) in F8H5PC and 11 CH(2) in F8H11PC) located between the terminal perfluoroalkyl chain and the polar head. The length of this spacer was found to have a critical impact on the adsorption kinetics and elasticity of the interfacial surfactant film. F8H5PC is soluble in both water and CO(2) phases and presents several distinct successive interfacial behaviors when bulk water concentration (C(W)) increases and displays a nonclassical isotherm shape. The isotherms of F8H5PC are similar for the three CO(2) pressures investigated and comprise four regimes. In the first regime, at low C(W), the interfacial tension is controlled by the organization that occurs between H(2)O and CO(2). The second regime corresponds to the adsorption of the surfactant as a monolayer until the CO(2) phase is saturated with F8H5PC, resulting in a first inflection point. In this regime, F8H5PC molecules reach maximal compaction and display the highest apparent interfacial elasticity. In the third regime, a second inflection is observed that corresponds to the critical micelle concentration of the surfactant in water. At the highest concentrations (fourth regime), the interfacial films are purely viscous and highly flexible, suggesting the capacity for this surfactant to produce water-in-CO(2) microemulsion. In this regime, surfactant adsorption is very fast and equilibrium is reached in less than 100 s. The behavior of F8H11PC is drastically different: it forms micelles only in the water phase, resulting in a classical Gibbs interface. This surfactant decreases the interfacial tension down to 1 mN/m and forms a strongly elastic interface. As this surfactant forms a very cohesive interface, it should be suitable for formulating stable water-in-CO(2) emulsions. The finding that the length of the hydrocarbon spacer in partially fluorinated surfactants can drastically influence film properties at the CO(2)-H(2)O interface should help control the formation of microemulsions versus emulsions and help elaborate a rationale for the design of surfactants specifically adapted to pressurized CO(2).     

Interfacial tension of a nematic liquid crystal/water interface with homeotropic surface alignment

Pendant drop experimental results are presented for the temperature dependence of the interfacial tension between water and the immiscible nematic liquid crystal 4'-pentyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (5CB) in the presence of the adsorbed surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Adsorption of the surfactant lowers the interfacial tension value and is also known from earlier work to induce a transition in liquid crystal surface alignment from planar to homeotropic [Brake et al. Langmuir 2003, 19, 6436.]. Discrepancies exist in the literature regarding the density of 5CB, and the density difference between 5CB and water in any case is very small. However, from the ability to form pendant 5CB drops, one may infer that the density of 5CB exceeds that of water over the entire temperature range studied (28-41 degrees C), in disagreement with the predictions of one earlier report on 5CB. The interfacial tension is shown to exhibit a relative maximum near the bulk 5CB nematic-isotropic transition temperature T(NI), regardless of which published data set of 5CB density values is used to analyze the measurements, with a possible discontinuity in tension occurring at T(NI). The anomalous shape of the interfacial tension curve, depending on the choice of the 5CB density data set, may be quite similar to that recently reported for the interface between 5CB and a hydrophobic, isotropic molten polymer (Rai et al. Langmuir 2003, 19, 7370).     

全氟辛酸钠和溴化烷基三甲铵混合水溶液的界面化学性质

测定了一系列不同比例的C_7F_(15)COONa与阳离子表面活性剂(C_3H_(17)N(CH_3)Br、C_(10)H_(21)N(CH_3)_3Br和C_(12)H_(25)N(CH_3)_3Br)混合水溶液(加NaBr, 恒离子强度μ=0.1 mol kg~(-1))的表面张力及正庚烷/水溶液界面张力。结果表明: 在表面上, 随阳离子表面活性剂碳氢链长增加, 各体系同一比例的饱和总吸附量增大。界面上, 7CFNa～C_8NBr体系的吸附规律与表面相似; 7CFNa～C_(10)NBr体系饱和总吸附量在1:1时最小; 而7CFNa～C_(12)NBr体系, 其饱和吸附量随7CFNa比例减小而减小。混合物的表(界)面活性均比单一表面活性剂高。随着阳离子表面活性剂碳氢链增加, 混合溶液降低表面张力的能力有所下降, 而降低表面张力的效率有所提高, 自表面吸附层结构与表面张力的关系对比作了说明。     

Molecular behavior and synergistic effects between sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate and Triton X-100 at oil/water interface

Significant synergistic effects between sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and nonionic nonylphenol polyethylene oxyether, Triton X-100 (TX-100), at the oil/water interface have been investigated by experimental methods and computer simulation. The influences of surfactant concentration, salinity, and the ratio of the two surfactants on the interfacial tension were investigated by conventional interfacial tension methods. A dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) method was used to simulate the adsorption properties of SDBS and TX-100 at the oil/water interface. The experiment and simulation results indicate that ultralow (lower than 10(-3) mN m(-1)) interfacial tension can be obtained at high salinity and very low surfactant concentration. Different distributions of surfactants in the interface and the bulk solution corresponding to the change of salinity have been demonstrated by simulation. Also by computer simulation, we have observed that either SDBS or TX-100 is not distributed uniformly over the interface. Rather, the interfacial layer contains large cavities between SDBS clusters filled with TX-100 clusters. This inhomogeneous distribution helps to enhancing our understanding of the synergistic interaction of the different surfactants. The simulation conclusions are consistent with the experimental results.     

Surfactant-mixing effects on the interfacial tension and the microemulsion formation in water/supercritical CO2 system

The effects of surfactant mixing on interfacial tension and on microemulsion formation were examined for systems of air/water and water/supercritical CO2 (scCO2) interfaces and for water/scCO2 microemulsions. A fluorinated surfactant, sodium bis(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl)-2-sulfosuccinate (8FS(EO)2), was mixed with the three hydrocarbon surfactants, Pluronic L31, Tergitol TMN-6, and decyltrimethylammonium chloride (DeTAC), at equimolar ratio. For all the cases, the interfacial tension was significantly lowered by the mixing. The positive synergistic effect suggests that the mixed surfactants tend to pack more closely on the interface than the pure constituents. It was found, however, that the microemulsion formation in scCO2 was never facilitated by the mixing, except for the case of TMN-6. This is probably due to the segregation of the surfactants into hydrocarbon-rich and fluorocarbon-rich phases on the microemulsion surface.     

Interfacial Studies of the Formation of Microemulsions of Water in Carbon Dioxide with Fluorinated Surfactants

Measurements of the interfacial tension, γ, for water-CO₂-perfiuoropoly ether (PFPE) ionic surfactant systems are utilized to understand the surfactant affinity for the various phases and adsorption at the interface. A marked decrease in γ with salinity is observed as salt screens electrostatic repulsion and induces microemulsion formation, as confirmed with dynamic light scattering. In several cases, the interfacial tension goes through an unusual maximum with salinity, which is explained in terms of competition between surfactant affinity for the various phases and microemulsion formation. Fundamental studies of interfacial properties provide important insight for designing surfactants and experimental conditions to achieve the desired properties of water/CO² microemulsions and emulsions.     

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.     

阴离子表面活性剂在水/正烷烃界面的分子动力学模拟(英文)

利用分子动力学模拟方法研究了阴离子表面活性剂在水/正烷烃(壬烷,癸烷和十一碳烷)界面的结构和动力学特点.十六烷基苯磺酸钠作为研究对象,其中苯磺酸基团在十六碳烷的第4号碳原子上,记作4-C16.分析了不同油相和特定盐度条件下正烷烃-表面活性剂-水体系的界面特点(如密度剖面图、界面张力和径向分布函数).模拟结果表明平衡模型体系展现了一个很好的水/正烷烃界面.当加氯化钠到水溶液中,正烷烃-表面活性剂-水体系的界面张力有微小的变化,有趣的是表面活性剂二面角的反式结构分数的变化联系着界面张力的微小变化.可见,表面活性剂在界面处的结构对降低界面张力起到重要的作用.此外,还发现表面活性剂的极性头与钠离子和水分子存在较强的相互作用.     

Investigation of interfacial and structural properties of CTAB at the oil/water interface using dissipative particle dynamics simulations

We have used dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to simulate the system of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) monolayer at the oil/water interface. The interfacial properties (interfacial density, interfacial thickness, and interfacial tension), structural properties (area compressibility modulus, end to end distance, and order parameter), and their dependence on the oil/water ratio and the surfactant concentration were investigated. Three different microstructures, spherical oil in water (o/w), interfacial phase, and water in oil (w/o), can be clearly observed with the oil/water ratio increasing. Both the snapshots and the density profiles of the simulation show that a well defined interface exists between the oil and water phases. The interface thickens with CTAB concentration and oil/water ratio. The area compressibility modulus decreases with an increase in the oil/water ratio. The CTAB molecules are more highly packed at the interface and more upright with both concentration and oil/water ratio. The root mean square end-to-end distance and order parameter have a very weak dependence on the oil/water ratio. But both of them show an increase with CTAB concentration, indicating that the surfactant molecules at the interface become more stretched and more ordered at high concentration. As CTAB concentration increases further, the order parameter decreases instead because the bending of the interface. At the same time, it is shown that CTAB has a high interfacial efficiency at the oil/water interface.     

Dynamic interfacial tension at the oil/surfactant-water interface

We have used dynamic interfacial tension measurements to understand the structure of the ordered monolayer at the hexadecane/water interface induced by the presence of surfactant molecules. No abrupt changes in the interfacial tension (gamma) are observed during the expansion and contraction cycle below the interfacial ordering temperature (Ti) as observed for alkanes in contact with air. The lack of an abrupt change in gamma and the magnitude of this change during the expansion process indicate that the ordered phase may not be crystalline. The change in the interfacial tension is due to an increase in contact between water and hexadecane molecules and the disordering of the interfacial ordered layer. At low surfactant concentrations, the recovery of the interfacial tension is slower below Ti, suggesting that there is a critical surfactant concentration necessary to nucleate an ordered phase at the interface.     

The effect of salting out and micellization on interfacial tension

We consider a system consisting of oil and water phases with nonionic surfactant distributed between them and present a model for the effect of salt on the interfacial tension. The model accounts for the salting out of surfactant from water to oil and also for the occurrence of micelles in the aqueous phase. In addition, it is shown that salting out affects micellization in interesting ways, e.g. micelles may form as the salt concentration increases even though none are present initially and then disappear at higher concentrations. The effect of chain length and head group size (and hence of HLB) on the interfacial tension is examined for surfactants of the polyoxyethylene type. The calculated interfacial tension decreases continuously and may become negative under certain condition, indicating that the oil-water interface becomes unstable and a microemulsion forms.     

Neutron reflection from the liquid-liquid interface: adsorption of hexadecylphosphorylcholine to the hexadecane-aqueous solution interface

Adsorption of water-soluble, zwitterionic n-hexadecylphosphorylcholine (C(16)PC) amphiphiles has been examined at the hexadecane-aqueous solution interface using neutron reflectivity (NR) and interfacial tension measurements. The results of both methods indicate that the limiting area per surfactant molecule at the interface at the critical micelle concentration (cmc) is 40 +/- 5 Angstroms(2). In the NR measurements, two isotopic contrasts have been employed to determine the adsorption isotherm and to explore the structure of the interfacial region. Single-layer model fitting to both isotopic contrasts was only possible for the single sub-cmc concentration studied, where a film thickness of 60 +/- 5 Angstroms was obtained; consistent single-layer model fits to both contrasts for concentrations greater than the cmc were not possible, leading to the requirement of a two-layer model with an overall film thickness close to 60 +/- 2 Angstroms. This film thickness is appreciably greater than the fully extended C(16)PC molecular length and cannot be explained purely in terms of thermal broadening. A further result is that the reflectivity data indicate that, as the C(16)PC concentration increases, the amount of water on the hexadecane side of the interfacial region increases, in contrast to intuitive expectation. These findings are interpreted by conjecturing a structural model in which a trilayer of C(16)PC molecules is formed at the interface with the water concentrated in the region occupied by the headgroups.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Sulfobetaine-Type Zwitterionic Surfactant at the Decane/Water Interface

Automated Topology Builder (ATB) and GAMESS (US) were used to build the model of a new sulfobetaine-type zwitterionic surfactant. And a serious of molecular dynamics simulations of the new sulfobetaine-type zwitterionic surfactant were performed at the decane/water interface by GROMACS, the influence of surfactant structure to the interfacial properties was investigated. The results show that the surfactant molecules can adsorb at the decane/water interface closely and reduce the interfacial tension significantly between decane and water. In another word, the model of the sulfobetaine-type zwitterionic surfactant is correct. The minimum interfacial tension could reach up to 1.6 mN · m^?1 when the number of surfactants was up to 134, which corresponds to the critical micelle concentration and consistent with the experimental values of the system.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of four typical surfactants at oil/water interface

In the present study, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations to describe the microscopic behaviors of the anionic, nonionic, zwitterion, and gemini surfactants at oil/water interface. The abilities of reducing the interfacial tension and forming the stable interfacial film of the four surfactants have been investigated through evaluating interfacial thickness, interface formation energy and radial distribution function. The results show that the four kinds of surfactants can form in stable oil/water interface of monolayer, and the gemini surfactant can form the more stable monolayer. The results of the above three parameters demonstrate that the gemini surfactant has the best simulation effect in the four surfactants. From the calculated interfacial tension values, the gemini surfactant possess the more powerful ability of reducing the interfacial tension than others, so it is more suitable to be used as the surfactant for flooding. In addition, the effects of different electric field intensities on surfactants were calculated, through the radial distribution function of the hydrophilic group in the surfactant and the oxygen atom in the water. We have found that the adding of the periodic electric field can significantly affect the diffusion behavior of the molecules, and nonionic surfactant has stronger demulsification capability than others.     

X-ray reflectivity and interfacial tension study of the structure and phase behavior of the interface between water and mixed surfactant solutions of CH3(CH2)19OH and CF3(CF2)7(CH2)2OH in hexane

The interface between water and mixed surfactant solutions of CH(3)(CH(2))(19)OH and CF(3)(CF(2))(7)(CH(2))(2)OH in hexane was studied with interfacial tension and X-ray reflectivity measurements. Measurements of the tension as a function of temperature for a range of total bulk surfactant concentrations and for three different values of the molal ratio of fluorinated to total surfactant concentration (0.25, 0.28, and 0.5) determined that the interface can be in three different monolayer phases. The interfacial excess entropy determined for these phases suggests that two of the phases are condensed single surfactant monolayers of CH(3)(CH(2))(19)OH and CF(3)(CF(2))(7)(CH(2))(2)OH. By studying four different compositions as a function of temperature, X-ray reflectivity was used to determine the structure of these monolayers in all three phases at the liquid-liquid interface. The X-ray reflectivity measurements were analyzed with a layer model to determine the electron density and thickness of the headgroup and tailgroup layers. The reflectivity demonstrates that phases 1 and 2 correspond to an interface fully covered by only one of the surfactants (liquid monolayer of CH(3)(CH(2))(19)OH in phase 1 and a solid condensed monolayer of CF(3)(CF(2))(7)(CH(2))(2)OH in phase 2). This was determined by analysis of the electron density profile as well as by direct comparison to reflectivity studies of the liquid-liquid interface in systems containing only one of the surfactants (plus hexane and water). The liquid monolayer of CH(3)(CH(2))(19)OH undergoes a transition to the solid monolayer of CF(3)(CF(2))(7)(CH(2))(2)OH with increasing temperature. Phase 3 and the transition regions between phases 1 and 2 consist of a mixed monolayer at the interface that contains domains of the two surfactants. In phase 3 the interface also contains gaseous regions that occupy progressively more of the interface as the temperature is increased. The reflectivity determined the coverage of the surfactant domains at the interface. A simple model is presented that predicts the basic features of the domain coverage as a function of temperature for the mixed surfactant system from the behavior of the single surfactant systems.     

Interfacial stabilization of organic-aqueous two-phase microflows for a miniaturized DNA extraction module

Organic-aqueous liquid (phenol) extraction is one of many standard techniques to efficiently purify DNA directly from cells. The cell components naturally distribute themselves into the two fluid phases in order to minimize interaction energies of the biological components with the surrounding solvents. The membrane components and protein partition to the interface between the organic and aqueous phases while the DNA stays in the aqueous phase. The aqueous phase is then removed with a purified DNA sample. This work studies the first steps towards miniaturizing this liquid extraction technique in a microfluidic device. The first step is to understand how the two liquid phases behave in microchannels. Due to the interfacial tension between the two liquid phases, novel approaches must be examined in order to obtain interfacial stability under flow conditions. The stability of the organic-aqueous interface is improved by reducing the interfacial tension between the two phases by incorporating a surfactant into the aqueous phase. The variation of the interfacial tension as a function of surfactant concentration is also quantified in this work. This has led to the ability to create stable stratified microflows in both a dual inlet and three inlet microfluidic systems. Also, the first step in understanding biological interactions at the organic-aqueous interface is investigated using a fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumin protein.