Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.59, No.3, 1159-1167, 2020
Synergism between Cationic Alkyltrimethylammonium Bromides (C(n)TAB) and Nonionic n-Octanol in the Foamability of Their Mixed Solutions
In this study, the foamability of pure solutions of alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (C(n)TAB with n = 8, 12, and 16) of various concentrations and their mixtures with n-octanol was studied. It was found from the results that n-octanol behaved as a foamability enhancer, depending on the C(n)TAB solution concentration. A similar foam height was obtained in C(n)TAB/octanol systems compared to pure C(n)TAB solutions with a greatly reduced amount of cationic surfactants. This synergistic effect between CTAB and n-octanol was quite significant, and it could be observed for systems where the CTAB concentration differed even by two orders of magnitude. Such behavior was observed only below some characteristic concentration of CTAB, called a critical synergistic concentration (CSC), above which the synergistic effect was either no longer visible or significantly reduced. Moreover, it was found that the presence of n-octanol affected only the solution foamability without significant changes in the stability of the foams. A possible origin of this effect was analyzed and discussed on the basis of the magnitude of the surface elasticity forces induced in the foam films during the foam generation period and while operating during foam decay.