Universal Surfactant for Water, Oils, and CO₂

Abstract

A trichain anionic surfactant sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulfonate (TC14) is shown to aggregate in three different types of solvent: water, heptane, and liquid CO(2). Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to characterize the surfactant aggregates in water, heptane, and dense CO(2). Surface tension measurements, and analyses, show that the addition of a third branched chain to the surfactant structural template is critical for sufficiently lowering the surface energy, tipping the balance between a CO(2)-incompatible surfactant (AOT) and CO(2)-philic compounds that will aggregate to form micelles in dense CO(2) (TC14). These results highlight TC14 as one of the most adaptable and useful surfactants discovered to date, being compatible with a wide range of solvent types from high dielectric polar solvent water to alkanes with low dielectrics and even being active in the uncooperative and challenging solvent environment of liquid CO(2).

Economical and Efficient Hybrid Surfactant with Low Fluorine Content for the Stabilisation of Water-in-CO2 Microemulsions

“…Hence, the data for these two surfactants are not included in the phase diagram. Earlier studies on the identical system also reported the inability of the AOT14 surfactant to stabilise w/c microemulsions [42] despite the versatility of the parent AOT14; which is the TC14 surfactant, in a wide range of solvent [41,49]. However, changing the hydrophilic headgroup into the larger sulfoglutarate was not sufficient to increase the tendency of the surfactants to stabilize w/c microemulsions.…”

Graphene-philic surfactants for nanocomposites in latex technology

“…In water, however, the hydrophobic nature of graphene leads to the agglomeration of graphene sheets into graphitic layered structures or agglomerates, thus spontaneous wetting by water is theoretically impossible. It has long been established in colloid science that to achieve a thermodynamically stable dispersion of one phase in another requires the lowering the interfacial energy between two immiscible phases, using surfactants that either strongly bind to the target compound or are solvated by the continuous phase [87][88][89]. However, very little is known as to whether graphene dispersions can be thermodynamically stable [90].…”

Preparation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) stabilised by highly branched hydrocarbon surfactants and dispersed in natural rubber latex nanocomposites

“…Interestingly, this research showed that the stability of this mixed colloidal system can be dramatically enhanced via the introduction of a third, highly branched hydrocarbon and methylated chain, i.e. TC14 surfactant (sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulphonate) ( Table 1) [22]. The addition of this tri-chain surfactant is generally believed to efficiently lower the surface energy and packing requirements of a surfactant at the CO 2 -water interface [22].…”

“…TC14 surfactant (sodium 1,4-bis(neopentyloxy)-3-(neopentyloxycarbonyl)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulphonate) ( Table 1) [22]. The addition of this tri-chain surfactant is generally believed to efficiently lower the surface energy and packing requirements of a surfactant at the CO 2 -water interface [22]. Interestingly, this feature precisely seemed to control MWCNT dispersibility in polymer matrix [20,23,24].…”