Studies on the interactions between anionic surfactants and polyvinylpyrrolidone: Surface tension measurement, 13C NMR and ESR

 The interaction between anionic surfactants and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) are investigated using ¹³C NMR, ESR spectroscopy and surface tension measurements at the air/water interface. The behavior of single-chained surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphonate (AS), is compared with that of the double-chained surfactant, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (NaDEHP). The results showed that a surfactant–polymer complex of “necklace and head structure” is formed in AS aqueous solutions in the presence of PVP due to the hydrophobic interaction between PVP and AS. The AS micelles nucleate on the polymer hydrophobic sites, and the mobility of the AS head groups is not affected. But, for NaDEHP surfactant, it was found that PVP is little effective in influencing the monomer–micelle equilibrium and no surfactant– polymer complex formed in the NaDEHP aqueous solution. Received: 8 May 1996 Accepted: 14 August 1997