Abstract
An oleyl alcohol-based extended surfactant, sodium oleyl polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide sulfate (OE(3)P(3)S), was synthesized and identified using FT-IR and (1)H NMR. The adsorption and aggregation behaviors of OE(3)P(3)S and its mixture with cationic surfactant alkyltrimethylammoniumbromide (ATAB) were investigated under different molar ratios. The static surface tension analysis indicated that the critical micellization concentration (cmc) and the critical surface tension (γ(cmc)) of OE(3)P(3)S were 0.72 mmol/L, and 36.16 mN/m, respectively. The cmc and γ(cmc) values of the binary system were much lower than that of the individual component. And the cmc values of OE(3)P(3)S/ATAB = 6:4 mixtures decreased with an increase in the chain length of the cationic surfactant in the binary system. It was found from the dynamic surface tension that there was a slower diffusion rate in the binary system compared to the pure surfactant, and the adsorption processes for OE(3)P(3)S/ATAB = 6:4 were mixed diffusion-kinetic adsorption mechanisms. With a combination of DLS data and TEM measurements, formations of vesicles in OE(3)P(3)S/ATAB = 6:4 solutions appeared to occur at a concentration of 0.05 mmol/L. By studying the formation of liquid crystal structures in an emulsion prepared with OE(3)P(3)S as the surfactant, it was found that the oil-in-water emulsion is birefringent with a Maltese cross texture, and the rheological properties revealed its predominant viscoelastic behavior and shear thinning properties.