Effect of chemical structure on the cloud point of some new non-ionic surfactants based on bisphenol in relation to their surface active properties

A series of non-ionic surfactants were prepared from bisphenol derived from acetone (A), acetophenone (AC) and cyclohexanone (CH). The prepared bisphenols were ethoxylated at different degrees of ethylene oxide (27, 35, 43). The ethoxylated bisphenols were non-esterified by fatty acids; decanoic, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoloic and linolinic. Some surface active properties for these surfactants were measured and calculated such as, surface tension [γ], critical micelle concentration [CMC], minimum area per molecule [Amin], surface excess [Cmax], free energy of micellization and adsorption [ΔGmic] and [ΔGads]. At a certain temperature, the cloud point was measured for these surfactants. From the obtained data it was found that; the cloud point is very sensitive to the increase of the alkyl chain length, content of ethylene oxide and degree of unsaturation. The core of bisphenol affected the cloud point sharply and they are ranked regarding bisphenol structure as BA > BCH > BAC. By inspection of the surface active properties of these surfactants, a good relation was obtained with their cloud points. The data were discussed on the light of their chemical structures.