Micellar Behavior of Polystyrene-Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Diblock Copolymers in Aqueous Media: Effect of Copolymer Composition,Temperature, Salt,and Surfactants

Formation and structure of micelles from two amphiphilic polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-PEO) diblock copolymers (PS mol.wt. 1000; PEO mol.wt. 3000 and 5000) were examined by surface tension, viscosity, steady state fluorescence, dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the copolymers in aqueous solution was ca. 0.05%; micelle hydrodynamic diameter was 30–35 nm with a narrow size distribution. SANS studies show that the copolymers form ellipsoidal micelles with semi major axis ～23 nm and semi minor axis ～8 nm. No significant change in the structure was found with temperature and presence of salt. The copolymer micelles interaction with the ionic surfactants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was also examined by DLS and SANS.     

Spectrophotometric and Thermodynamic Studies of Micellar Interaction of Surfactants with p-Nitrophenol

Interaction of p-nitrophenol (NPH) with various surfactants, viz., cetylpyridinium chloride (cationic), sodium dodecylsulphate (anionic) and Triton X-100 (nonionic) are studied spectrophotometrically, in aqueous-micellar medium. The interactions are of electrostatic as well as hydrophobic nature. The strength of interaction is represented in terms of the equilibrium constants and other thermodynamic quantities of formation of the p-nitrophenol-micelle donor-acceptor complexes in addition to a shift in the acid-base equilibrium of NPH. The interaction between NPH and CPC is much stronger that with Triton X-100 whereas the interaction with SDS is very weak. Formation of 1:1 charge transfer (or electron donor-acceptor) complex is evidenced from the results. The interaction of NPH is enthalpy driven with CPC and entropy driven with Triton X-100.     

Role of the Surfactant Structure in the Behavior of Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids within Aqueous Micellar Solutions

The behavior of an ionic liquid (IL) within aqueous micellar solutions is governed by its unique property to act as both an electrolyte and a cosolvent. The influence of the surfactant structure on the properties of aqueous micellar solutions of zwitterionic SB‐12, nonionic Brij‐35 and TX‐100, and anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in the presence of the “hydrophobic” IL 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]) is assessed along with the possibility of forming oil‐in‐water microemulsions in which the IL acts as the “oil” phase. The solubility of [bmim][PF₆] within aqueous micellar solutions increases with increasing surfactant concentration. In contrast to anionic SDS, the zwitterionic and nonionic surfactant solutions solubilize more [bmim][PF₆] at higher concentrations and the average aggregate size remains almost unchanged. The formation of IL‐in‐water microemulsions when the concentration of [bmim][PF₆] is above its aqueous solubility is suggested for nonionic Brij‐35 and TX‐100 aqueous surfactant solutions.     

Novel Amphiphilic Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) Block Copolymer: Aggregative Behavior and Interaction with DNA

Summary: Novel block copolymers poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)-block-poly[(tert-butoxy) carbonyl] tryptophanamido-N′-methacryl thiourea (PVP-b-PTAM-I, II and III) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) in DMF using PVP-Cl as macroinitiator. The structures of the copolymers were characterized by UV-vis and GPC-MALLS. The results revealed that the copolymers with controlled molecular weight and relatively low polydispersity (PDI < 1.34) were obtained through ATRP. By means of dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we demonstrated that copolymer PVP-b-PTAM self-aggregated to form spherical micelles in aqueous solution and the size of the micelles increased with increasing hydrophobic contents. The interaction of PVP-b-PTAM with DNA was explored using ethidium bromide (EB) quenching experiments. The interaction between PVP-b-PTAM and DNA markedly depended on both the copolymer concentration and composition. The PVP-b-PTAM-II and III with higher hydrophobic contents exhibited highly complexed DNA ability at low copolymer concentration, such as 0.017 mg/mL, relative to PVP-b-PTAM-I. As the copolymer concentration further increased for PVP-b-PTAM-II and III, they first exhibited a sharply decreased affinity for DNA and then kept steady. The interaction mechanism between the amphiphilic copolymers and the EB-DNA complex was discussed in detail.     

Study on the Interaction between a Novel Ionic Liquid Probe and Anionic Surfactants Using Resonance Light Scattering Spectra and Its Analytical Application

The interaction between anionic surfactants (AS) and 1‐hexadecyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bromide [C₁₆mim]Br was studied by using resonance light scattering (RLS) technique, UV‐Vis spectrophotometry and fluorometric methods. In Britton Robinson (BR) buffer (pH 6.0), [C₁₆mim]Br reacted with AS to form supermolecular complex which resulted in enhancement in RLS intensity. Their maximum RLS wavelengths were all at 390 nm. Some important interacting experimental variables, such as the solution acidity, [C₁₆mim]Br concentration, salt effect and addition order of the reagents, were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, quantitative determination ranges were 0.001–7 μg·mL^?1 for dodecyl sodium sulfate (SDS), 0.001–6 μg·mL^?1 for sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and 0.005–7 μg·mL^?1 for sodium lauryl sulfonate (SLS), respectively, while the detection limits were 1.3 ng·mL^?1 for SDS, 1.0 ng·mL^?1 for SDBS and 5.1 ng·mL^?1 for SLS, respectively. Based on the ion‐association reaction, a highly sensitive, simple and rapid method has been established for the determination of AS.     

Effect of the Cationic Surfactant Moiety on the Structure of Water Entrapped in Two Catanionic Reverse Micelles Created from Ionic Liquid‐Like Surfactants

The behavior of water entrapped in reverse micelles (RMs) formed by two catanionic ionic liquid‐like surfactants, benzyl‐n‐hexadecyldimethylammonium 1,4‐bis‐2‐ethylhexylsulfosuccinate (AOT‐BHD) and cetyltrimethylammonium 1,4‐bis‐2‐ethylhexylsulfosuccinate (AOT‐CTA), was investigated by using dynamic (DLS) and static (SLS) light scattering, FTIR, and ¹H NMR spectroscopy techniques. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in which AOT‐CTA has been used to create RMs and encapsulate water. DLS and SLS results revealed the formation of RMs in benzene and the interaction of water with the RM interface. From FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy data, a difference in the magnitude of the water–catanionic surfactant interaction at the interface is observed. For the AOT‐BHD RMs, a strong water–surfactant interaction can be invoked whereas for AOT‐CTA this interaction seems to be weaker. Consequently, more water molecules interact with the interface in AOT‐BHD RMs with a completely disrupted hydrogen‐bond network, than in AOT‐CTA RMs in which the water structure is partially preserved. We suggest that the benzyl group present in the BHD⁺ moiety in AOT‐BHD is responsible for the behavior of the catanionic interface in comparison with the interface created in AOT‐CTA. These results show that a simple change in the cationic component in the catanionic surfactant promotes remarkable changes in the RMs interface with interesting consequences, in particular when using the systems as nanoreactors.     

Polymeric Surfactants and Emerging Alternatives used in the Demulsification of Produced Water: A Review

Stable emulsions are frequently encountered in oil production and cause a series of environmental and operational issues. Chemical demulsification is widely used for the separation of oil from water or removal of water from oil. The chemicals used in the demulsification process have a strong affinity to the oil-water interface. This review presents the various types of chemical demulsifiers used for the demulsification of water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions. The review covers the relevant properties of polymeric surfactants such as polyether, dendrimers, and natural biodegradable polymeric surfactants. In addition, emerging alternatives like nanoparticles-based demulsifiers and ionic liquids are also reviewed. The factors affecting the demulsification efficiency of these demulsifiers and structure-property relationships are discussed. Copolymers with high hydrophilic content and molecular weight are more efficient demulsifiers. Similarly, the position isomerism (same carbon skeleton and functional groups but a different location of functional groups) strongly affects the HLB and demulsification performance. Generally, dendrimers show better performance compared to linear polymeric surfactants due to their relatively higher interfacial activity, better penetrability, and a larger number of reactive terminal groups. Techniques used to evaluate the performance of demulsifiers are also covered. The review also highlights the current developments and future prospects of chemical demulsifiers.     

Synthesis of Copolymer of Acrylamide and a Cationic-Nonionic Bifunctional Polymerizable Surfactant and Its Micellar Behavior in Water

A novel cationic-nonionic bifunctional polymerizable surfactant (PEP) was prepared by the quaternarization of poly (ethylene oxide-propylene oxide) block polymers (PEO-PPO) having terminal tertiary amine group with chloropropene. Polymeric surfactant (PAM-g-PEP) was prepared by the copolymerization of acrylamide and PEP in water and the product was confirmed by FTIR. PAM-g-PEP has exhibit excellent surface and interfacial activity and its surface tension and interfacial tension at cmc are 40.13 mN/m and 11.69 mN/m, respectively. The influence of temperature on the micellar behavior of the PAM-g-PEP in water was studied by the dynamic laser scatting (DLS) and ultraviolet spectroscope. The results showed that PAM-g-PEP in water is thermo-associative. In diluted PAM-g-PEP solution, the R_h of the polymeric surfactant increases with the temperature due to the interpolymeric aggregations are formed. In the case of concentrated PAM-g-PEP solution, the light transmittance of PAM-g-PEP aqueous solution decreases with the increasing temperature, which is may be caused by the increase of the number of the interpolymeric PEP chain aggregates.      

Synthesis and Aqueous Self‐Assembly of a Polyferrocenylsilane‐block‐poly(aminoalkyl methacrylate) Diblock Copolymer

Water‐soluble cylindrical micelles with an organometallic core are formed by self‐assembly of the first polyferrocenylsilane‐block‐polyacrylate block copolymer, synthesized by anionic polymerization, in water at pH 8. A transmission electron microscopy image of the micelles is shown in the Figure.     

胶体颗粒在聚电解质多层膜表面的可控组装

利用原子力显微镜和扫描电子显微镜研究了磺化聚苯乙烯胶体颗粒在由聚二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵和聚苯乙烯磺酸钠层状自组装而成的多层膜表面的组装.该组装受表面性质影响,通过对多层膜的最外层的组装条件或利用盐溶液对多层膜进行后处理可以控制胶体颗粒在膜表面的组装密度.     

Salt Effect,Surface, and Aggregation Properties of Binary Surfactant Mixtures of a Nonionic Gemini Surfactant (HBA(EO)80) with Anionic Surfactants

Nonionic gemini surfactants HBA(EO)₈₀ were synthesized and characterized by means of surface tension measurements. CMCs of two mixed system, nonionic gemini mixed with anionic gemini (HBA(EO)₈₀/C11pPHCNa) and nonionic gemini mixed with anionic monomeric (HBA(EO)₈₀/SL) and the effect of salt on the two mixed system were investigated. Freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the mixed aggregates' morphologies. The results show that large spherical aggregates were formed in the mixed solution, which trend to transfer into micelles with the increases of the salt concentration.     

Synthesis of a Novel Electroactive ABA Triblock Copolymer and its Spontaneous Self‐Assembly in Water

An electroactive triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and aniline pentamer (AP), PEG‐block‐AP‐block‐PEG (PAP), was synthesized via polycondensation in the presence of N,N'‐dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC). The UV‐vis spectra and cyclic‐voltammograms (CV) spectra exhibited an excellent electroactivity of the triblock copolymer. The amphiphilic triblock copolymer self‐assembles spontaneously into uniform micellar aggregates when the triblock copolymer was added directly to the aqueous solution. The size of the aggregates can be changed with the oxidation state of the AP segment in the PAP copolymer and the aggregates were pH‐sensitive to the surrounding water solution, which provides a potential application in controlled drug release.

     

Changes in the Hydration State of a Block Copolymer of Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and Poly(ethylene oxide) on Thermosensitive Micellization in Water

A diblock copolymer of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PiPA‐b‐PEO) has been prepared by radical polymerization with a ceric ion initiation system. Its thermosensitive micellization has been investigated by means of IR and fluorescence spectroscopy. The PiPA segments are critically dehydrated above 33.5°C (5 wt.‐%) and associate through hydrophobic interaction to form the hydrophobic core of the micelle. In contrast, the change in the hydration state of the PEO segments upon micellization is small.     

Unusual Lower Critical Solution Temperature Phase Behavior of Poly(benzyl methacrylate) in a Pyrrolidinium-Based Ionic Liquid

Polymer/ionic liquid systems are being increasingly explored, yet those exhibiting lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase behavior remain poorly understood. Poly(benzyl methacrylate) in certain ionic liquids constitute unusual LCST systems, in that the second virial coefficient (A₂) in dilute solutions has recently been shown to be positive, indicative of good solvent behavior, even above phase separation temperatures, where A₂ < 0 is expected. In this work, we describe the LCST phase behavior of poly(benzyl methacrylate) in 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide for three different molecular weights (32, 63, and 76 kg/mol) in concentrated solutions (5–40% by weight). Turbidimetry measurements reveal a strong concentration dependence to the phase boundaries, yet the molecular weight is shown to have no influence. The critical compositions of these systems are not accessed, and must therefore lie above 40 wt% polymer, far from the values (ca. 10%) anticipated by Flory-Huggins theory. The proximity of the experimental cloud point to the coexistence curve (binodal) and the thermo-reversibility of the phase transitions, are also confirmed at various heating and cooling rates.     

Local Grafting of Ionic Liquid in Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Amorphous Region and the Subsequent Microphase Separation Behavior in Melt

Polymer‐based nanostructures can be generally created by self‐assembly of block copolymers that are commonly synthesized by living radical polymerization. In this study, a new strategy is proposed to fabricate block‐like copolymers by using the template of binary phase structure of semicrystalline polymers. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is thermodynamically miscible with an unsaturated ionic liquid (IL) (1‐vinyl‐3‐ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) in the melt and IL molecules are expelled out from the crystalline parts during the crystallization of PVDF. Therefore, the IL molecules are only located at the amorphous region of PVDF crystals. The electron beam irradiation of the IL incorporated PVDF leads to the local grafting of IL molecules onto the PVDF molecular chains in the amorphous region, so block‐like grafting polymer chains of crystalline PVDF‐b‐(amorphous PVDF‐g‐IL)‐b‐crystalline PVDF can be achieved. The subsequent heating of the irradiated sample induces the microphase separation of PVDF‐g‐IL from the ungrafted PVDF chains.

     

红外伏吸法研究抗坏血酸在水溶液和离子液体1-乙基-3-甲基咪唑四氟硼酸盐中的电化学行为

采用电化学及红外伏吸法研究了抗坏血酸(AA)在水溶液和离子液体1-乙基-3-甲基咪唑(EMIMBF4)中的电化学行为.AA在EMIMBF4中与在水溶液中一样,不可逆氧化成脱氢抗坏血酸(DHAA).现场红外光谱结果表明,DHAA在水中迅速发生水解反应,而在EMIMBF4中则较稳定.在EMIMBF4中,AA的羰基峰出现在1739 cm-1处,DHAA的羰基峰出现在1785 cm-1处,它们相比于游离态的羰基发生了红移.原因可能是AA和DHAA与EMIMBF4间易形成氢键,或者是AA自身形成了氢键,DHAA以二聚体的形态存在.     

Interaction of Novel Anionic Gemini Surfactants with Dodecyl Sodium Sulfate in Aqueous NaCl Medium and the Performance of Their Mixtures

The interaction in two mixtures of two novel anionic gemini surfactants, sodium 2,2′-(6,6′-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azanediyl)bis(4-(hexylamino)-1,3,5-triazine-6,2-diyl)bis(azanediyl)diethanesulfonate (C₆-2-C₆) and sodium 2,2′-(6,6′-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azanediyl)bis(4-(octylamino)-1,3,5-triazine-6,2-diyl) bis(azanediyl) diethanesulfonate (C₈-2-C₈), and conventional anionic surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), have been investigated in 0.1 M NaCl aqueous solutions. The mixed systems are C₆-2-C₆/SDS and C₈-2-C₈/SDS, and the mole factions (α_G) of geminis are 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9, respectively. Mixtures of both C₆-2-C₆/SDS and C₈-2-C₈/SDS exhibit synergism in surface tension reduction efficiency and mixed micelle formation. But, all mixtures except C₆-2-C₆/SDS (α_G = 0.7), C₆-2-C₆/SDS (α_G = 0.9), and C₈-2-C₈/SDS (α_G = 0.1) don't exhibit synergism in surface tension reduction effectiveness. The performances, such as wetting, emulsification, and dispersion were measured and the results showed all mixtures posses application properties.     

Spectroscopic Investigations on the Interaction of Crystal Violet with Nonionic Micelles of Brij and Igepal Surfactants in Aqueous Media

The behavior of the triphenylmethane dye crystal violet in aqueous solutions containing polyoxyethylene nonionic surfactants was investigated using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. The interactions of the dye were examined in micellar media in order to prevent dye aggregation and to ensure maximum dye and surfactant interaction. The relative fluorescence enhancements and the binding constants of the dye to the surfactant micelles were determined. The micropolarities of the micellar environment sensed by the pyrene probe were estimated from the I ₁/I ₃ intensity ratios of the fluorescence spectra of pyrene. The fluorescence quenching of pyrene by hexadecylpyridinium chloride was investigated in aqueous surfactant mixtures at a fixed concentration of surfactant in order to determine the aggregation numbers. Attempts were made to correlate the binding constants obtained in this investigation to various micellar parameters.