Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.51, No.30, 10172-10178, 2012
Wetting of PTFE and Glass Surfaces by Aqueous Solutions of Cationic and Anionic Double-Chain Surfactants
The wetting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic solid surfaces by surfactant solutions is an important research topic recently because of its profound practical applications. The wettability of two double-chain surfactants (cationic, didodecyldimethylammonium bromide or DDAB, and anionic, aerosol OT or AOT) solutions on poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) and glass surfaces has been investigated here. Different physicochemical parameters such as critical micelle concentration (CMC) and surface tension, contact angle, surface excess at air-water and solid-water interfaces, work of adhesion, and free energy of wetting have been estimated for two double-chain surfactants solutions and compared with the reported results of single-chain surfactants. The double-chain surfactant solutions showed maximum lowering of surface tension values (24.36 and 26.35 mN/m for DDAB and AOT, respectively) and a change in contact angle values from pure water on PTFE (similar to 38 degrees for DDAB and AOT) and glass (similar to 26.5 and 24 degrees for DDAB and AOT, respectively) surfaces compared to the conventionally studied single-chain surfactants. The surfactant molecules mostly formed a monolayer adsorption on both surfaces during the wetting process. The surface excess values of both of the surfactants on PTFE-water and glass-water interfaces are 0.759 and 0.850 times lower than that of the air-water interface, respectively.