Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.92, No.2, 288-295, 2014
CLOUD POINT BEHAVIOUR MODELLING OF POLYOXYETHYLENE NONIONIC SURFACTANTS
The cloud point temperature, T-c, of commercial nonionic surfactants: poly(oxyethylene) alkyl ethers CncHne (case: dodecan-1ol polyethoxylate, with the middle chemical structure n-C12E6) was predicted by applying the Flory-Huggins theory for polymer solutions, adapted to alcohol ethoxylates aqueous solutions by Rupert and using the pseudo-phase model original developed for micro-emulsions diagrams composition. The variations of interaction enthalpy as a function of carbon chain length and number of ethylene oxide units are also modelled. The expression of T-c as the function of the composition was derived assuming the regular solution for mixed micelles. The experimental results of the cloud point obtained for mixtures of n-C12E6 was better reproduced by the pseudo-phase model, which requires more specific surfactant data (the critical micelles concentration, cmc; critical temperature T-C), and a minimum of experimental data.