Polyethylene glycol mono alkyl ethers are the most commonly used non-ionic surfactants found in a variety of processes. Additionally, they represent a model chemistry which is easily varied in terms of only two structural parameters: length of hydrophobe and length of hydrophil. Predicting the fundamental surfactant performance characteristics based solely on the chemical structure is desirable for all chemistries. Using this model family of surfactants, we show that simple, thermodynamically driven scaling arguments can be used to create master empirical relationships that are able to predict the key properties of surfactants at the air-water interfaces with a single parameter derived from the surfactant chemistry. We show that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) is a strong function of the length of the hydrophobe, however the adsorption isotherm parameters are dependent on both the hydrophil and hydrophobe.

Link between chemistry and properties for CiEj surfactants

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.