Surface Activity, Wettability, and Aggregation Behavior of Ecofriendly Fluorocarbon Surfactant Based on Double Perfluorinated Branched Short Chains

Abstract

This article reports the synthesis of a novel sulfonated fluorocarbon surfactant (SFDC) containing double C 6 perfluorinated branched short chains and compares its surface properties with a similar structured compound (SFDC-L) in solutions. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the corresponding surface tension (γ CMC ) of SFDC aqueous solution are 9.77 × 10 −3 mmol/L and 22.15 mN/m, respectively, indicating that SFDC has excellent surface properties. Besides, the addition of nhexyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) could further enhance the surface properties of SFDC. Meanwhile, the micellization, aggregation behavior, wettability, and adsorption at the air−water interface of SFDC and SFDC/HTAB mixture aqueous solutions are systematically investigated. Both SFDC and SFDC/HTAB show excellent wettability at low concentrations. The aggregation of SFDC and SFDC/HTAB mixtures in aqueous solution could be clearly seen as vesicles and rod-like micelles on TEM micrographs.