Novel succinic acid based polymeric surfactants: Synthesis and performance investigation

Three novel succinic acid based polymeric surfactants, MAPEG-OSO3Na (MPEG = 1000, 2000, 4000), were designed and synthesized by reaction of maleic anhydride (MA) and polyethylene glycols (PEG) of different molecular weight. Their surface activities, adsorption, spreading performances, aggregation behaviors and dispersion in aqueous solution were investigated by static/dynamic surface tension measurements, contact angle techniques, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and particle size distribution (PSD) at 25 °C. Surface tension measurement for all three surfactants are about 30 mN/m. From the results of static surface tension measurements, we could estimate the CAC/C20 ratio, adsorption efficiency (pC20), maximum surface excess concentration (Γmax) and minimum surface area per molecule (Amin) at air/liquid interface. The dynamic surface tension results indicated that adsorption process of aqueous solutions at air/liquid interface is mixed diffusion-kinetic adsorption mechanism. TEM analysis of MAPEG-OSO3Na solutions revealed that surfactant molecules can self-assemble into spherical micelles. PSD and TEM results showed that the application prospect of these surfactants is dispersant in aqueous solution.