Wettability of Aqueous Solutions of Eco‐Friendly Surfactants (Ethoxylated Alcohols and Polyoxyethylene Glycerin Esters)

Abstract

Wettability of aqueous solutions of ethoxylated alcohols (EA), polyoxyethylene glycerin esters (PGE) and mixtures of them have been studied. For the EA assayed, the best wettability is reached when the EA have the lowest alkyl chain length and the lowest number of ethylene oxide units in the molecule. The best wettability for the PGE assayed is reached when the number of ethylene oxide units in the molecule is lowest. Aqueous solutions of these mixtures show a wetting power between those of the pure surfactants. The wettability of PGE can be improved by adding EA with a low alkyl chain length and a low number of ethylene oxide units. An exception and synergistic effect has been detected for aqueous solutions of EA (with alkyl chain length 12–14, number of ethylene oxide units 11) and PGE (with a number of ethylene oxide units equal to 2). These mixtures have better wettability than the surfactants separately, so that it might be advantageous to use both surfactants together.

Synergistic Effect on Wettability of Mixtures of Amine Oxides, Alkylpolyglucosides, and Ethoxylated Fatty Alcohols

“…From the data compiled in the present work and by others [10], it can be seen that, generally, wettability decreases when the alkyl chain length and the polyoxyethylene chain length increase. From the data compiled in the present work and by others [10], it can be seen that, generally, wettability decreases when the alkyl chain length and the polyoxyethylene chain length increase.…”

“…As can be observed in Figs. Table 2 also includes the intercept and the slope of the Draves test performed for different aqueous solutions of surfactants and mixtures of surfactants [10]. The standard deviation is very low in all the experiments assayed.…”

“…Textile fibers do not have ideal surfaces, and thus their wetting phenomena are complicated by surface roughness, heterogeneity, and adsorption of liquids of surfactants with a consequent change of surface energy. It has also been previously reported that ethoxylated fatty alcohol/polyoxyethylene glycerin esters in aqueous solutions have a synergic effect on wettability [10], and these mixtures have also shown an improvement in the pearly aspect of their aqueous solutions [11]. This test is used by all the surfactant companies to evaluate the wetting power of surfactants.…”

“…Wettability of aqueous solutions at different pH with 1 g/L of surfactants (a mixture of APG, AE (C[10][11][12] ) and AO at a ratio of 1:1:1 in weight)…”

Quality of Rapeseed Bio-Fuel Waste: Optical Properties

“…It is becoming more important for biodiesel producers to increase revenues by selling by-product of glycerol as well as finding use for other by-products. Purified glycerol has found many applications such as a substrate for chemical synthesis (Alavi Nijke, 2007;Aresta et al, 2009;Kim et al, 2007 Wolfson andDlugy, 2007), bioconversion (Chen et al, 2002;Kim et al, 2007;Nicol et al, 2012), substrate for food and cosmetic industry, production of surfactants (Jurado et al, 2012;Urata and Takaishi, 2002;Xu et al, 2011), production of biodegradable packaging (Liu et al, 2001), application in freezing (Izawa et al, 2004) or as a medium in medical care Nho et al, 2009). Other by-products such as crude glycerine or MONG fraction are not frequently reported in literature, their basic physicochemical properties are not described, there is no data on their possible application.…”