Charge number effect on the miscibility of inorganic salt and surfactant in adsorbed film and micelle: Inorganic salt–dodecylammonium chloride mixtures

The effect of inorganic salts with different charge numbers of cations on the adsorption and micelle formation of dodecylammonium chloride (DAC) was clarified by applying the thermodynamic treatment of surfactant mixtures to mixtures of DAC with calcium and lanthanum chlorides and comparing the results with those of the sodium chloride–DAC mixture in the previous study. Surface tension of aqueous solutions of the salt–DAC mixture was measured as a function of the total molality of the mixture and the mole fraction of DAC in the mixture at 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. Judging from the phase diagrams of adsorption and micelle formation obtained from the surface tension measurement, dodecylammonium cations expel inorganic cations from the adsorbed film and micelle and the repulsive interaction between dodecylammonium and inorganic cations increases with increasing charge number of the inorganic cation.

Graphical abstractThe repulsive interaction between inorganic cations and dodecylammonium anions in adsorbed films and micelles increases with increasing charge number of the inorganic cations.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide