A series of bi-component nonylphenol alkyl sulphonate surfactants with different alkyl chains (C-12/n-NPAS, n=8, 10, 14, 16) were synthesized through sulphonation-alkylation-neutralization, using a mixture of linear alpha olefins as raw materials. The chemical structures were characterized by FTIR and ESI-MS. The purity values measured by the two-phase titration method were all higher than 0.96g/g (96wt%). The effects of the raw materials composition on salinity tolerance, adsorption, and emulsification properties were also investigated. There is marked adsorption amount variation for bi-component surfactants with a strong difference of carbon number of alkyl groups. The salinity tolerance of C-12/n-NPAS is about 40g.L-1 of NaCl, and 0.65g.L-1 of CaCl2. Compared with petroleum sulphonates (14g.L-1 of NaCl, 0.08g.L-1 of CaCl2) and LAS (22g.L-1 of NaCl, 0.37g.L-1 of CaCl2), NPAS surfactants show a low adsorption, excellent salinity tolerance, and emulsion stability.