Calorimetric investigation of the adsorption of cationic dimeric surfactants with a hydrophilic spacer group onto silica

The microcalorimetry results show that the adsorption mechanism and the aggregation at the solid-liquid interface do not depend on the spacer group length. Then, important quantitative differences are observed between the two silica surfaces. The investigated surfactants provide useful molecular probes for the characterization of the surface active sites onto treated and raw silicas. The amounts adsorbed allow the surface sites present in SiNa and SiH to be quantified.