Volume 54, Issue 1

As a new type of high effective surfactant, aliphatic alcohol ether sulfonate has widely application prospects in the process of tertiary oil recovery. So, the theoretical analysis of synthesis of aliphatic alcohol ether sulfonate has played a very important role in the process of its development. After the first patent about the preparation of a fatty alcohol ether sulfonate surfactant was reported in 1938, there were several methods to synthesize alcohol ether sulfonate surfactants with different structure. Sulfonated alkylation, one of the synthesis methods, is introduced in this paper. The synthesis principle of alcohol ether sodium sulfonate was analyzed by three step reactions – synthesis of PTGE, ring opening reaction and sulfonation reaction. Synthesis principle of PTGE includes acid catalysis, phase-transfer catalysis, side reaction of the synthesis of glycerol ether and reaction of PTGE outcome. Ring opening reaction includes two reactions of acid catalysis and alkali catalysis.

The distribution coefficients of lipopeptide biosurfactant in four different commercially available organic solvents and water were determined by HPLC. A method with a high recovery of 92.1% for isolation of the lipopeptide in a surfactant/polymer mixture in aqueous solutions was established by using the combined means of acid extraction, alkaline conversion and acid re-extraction. The results showed that the lipopeptide distribution coefficients range from 0.010 to 61 at different pH values in different organic solvents, which is an indicator for optimizing the process of separation of lipopeptide biosurfactant in surfactant/polymer mixtures in aqueous solutions. The proposed separation method was used to determine the lipopeptide biosurfactant concentration in production fluids of the Daqing oil field. The concentrations were 6.57 μg/L and 4.56 μg/L.

By changing amino acid head group four biobased anionic surfactants were synthesized using 4-vinylguaiacol and methylbromo undecanoate. The synthesized surfactants were characterized by NMR and mass spectrometry analysis. The surface active properties such as surface tension, wetting power, foaming characteristic, emulsion stability, calcium tolerance were studied and compared with those of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Excellent emulsion stabilities and calcium tolerances were observed for the synthesized surfactants. These surfactants show a lower critical micelle concentration as compared to the conventional surfactants. The bulk micellization properties were studied using dynamic light scattering and fluorescence anisotropy technique. The antimicrobial and cytotoxicity studies were also carried out.

A novel hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite containing two disparate morphologies was prepared by using a new organosilane surfactant with two long alkyl chains. Main crystal phase arrayed regularly and stacked in dense layers. However, the rest of crystalline phase was shaped like egg tarts.

Microcapsules with modified polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as coating polymer and sodium sulfate decahydrate (Na 2 SO 4 · 10H 2 O) as core materials were prepared using the emulsion polymerization and solvent evaporation methods. Chemical composition and microscopic structure of the synthesized PMMA-AA/Na 2 SO 4 · 10 H 2 O phase change materials (PCMs) microcapsules were confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, polarizing optical microscopy (POM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal properties were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in detail. The results show that the microcapsules are uniform and approximately spherical with an average diameter of about 3.5 μm. The melting point of the microcapsule is 31.5°C and the fusion heat is 182.8 J/g. This demonstrated that the prepared PMMA-AA/Na 2 SO 4 · 10H 2 O microcapsules could be promising candidates for the design of novel energy-saving materials with good thermal energy storage application.

In this paper, a humate surfactant based on humic substances which were derived from lignite by modification of hydroxymethylation and esterification methods respectively was prepared. Determined by surface tension method, the cmc (critical micelle concentration) of the humate surfactant is 1.534 g/L and the corresponding surface tension is 48.8 mN/m. The optimum conditions of the modified processes are as follows: hydroxymethylation modification at pH 10.5, reaction temperature 90°C, reaction time of 60 min, dosage of stock (formaldehyde/lignite/g g −1 ) 10:10, and the amount of reacted paraformaldehyde was 6.23 mmol/g lignite. The esterification modification was carried but at 70°C, reaction time 10 h, dosage of 6.0 mmol n -decanoyl chloride/g lignite. The conversion rate of n -decanoyl chloride was 95%.

A cationic choline-derived surfactant with photolabile cinnamate counterion (tetradecyl-(2-hydroxyethyl)-dimethylammoniumcinnamate, C 14 HDACin) was synthesized. The properties of C 14 HDACin aqueous solutions for pre- or post-UV irradiation were investigated by employing tensiometry, conductance, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and rheometry. The effect of UV irradiation time on photoisomerization of C 14 HDACin solutions was evaluated, which showed that the photoisomerization efficiency decreases with an increase of C 14 HDACin concentration. After UV irradiation, the fraction of counterion binding (β) of the C 14 HDACin micelle decreases. However, the value of CMC increases. Rheometry coupled with TEM studies confirmed that the aggregation of C 14 HDACin could transform from wormlike to spherical micelles upon UV irradiation.

Glycerol, derived from biodiesel production, is a renewable feedstock for the production of value-added chemicals. Herein, we report an investigation of the acetalization of glycerol with n -octanal by homogeneous acid catalysis in the absence of a solvent, using p -dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, p -toluenesulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid, respectively, as catalysts. p -Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, a surfactant-type Brønsted acid, proved to be an excellent catalyst capable of efficiently promoting the reaction under solvent-free conditions, and the yields of glycerol acetals reached 99% under the optimal conditions. The distribution of five- and six-membered cyclic acetal regioisomers varied depending on the reaction time and temperature. Moreover, the amphiphilic properties of the products, with different ratios of five- to six-membered cyclic acetals, have been evaluated by surface tension measurements.

Illegal discharge of waste cooking oil (WCO) not only causes environmental pollution but also wastes useful resources. Converting WCO into surfactant to partially substitute virgin vegetable oil is one of the measures for solving simultaneously the three problems of food security, pollution, and raw materials shortage. In this paper, the pretreatment of WCO was investigated, WCO and purified WCO were analyzed, purified WCO was used as an alternate feedstock for surfactant preparation by a chemical three-step modification process, structure characterization and surfactivities of obtained surfactant were demonstrated.

In order to obtain higher surface activity and lower foaming ability, novel asymmetric Gemini alkyl polyglycosides were synthetized based on tertiary dodecyl dimethyl amine and epoxy chloropropane by adopting chlorination, substitution, and quaternization reactions. The structure of synthesis product was characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and elemental analysis. It was confirmed that the synthesis product was an asymmetric glycoside quaternary ammonium salt with double ionic head groups. The critical micelle concentration of the resulting product was 0.025 g/mL at 20°C and its surface tension was low to 22.8 mN/m. The emulsifying ability and wettability of the product were the same as or even better than those of the commonly used surfactants. Moreover, the product revealed low foaming ability.

A series of cationic surfactants, di-chained esterquat surfactants, was synthesized from triethanolamine, stearic acid and various alkylation agents by two step processes. The quaterisation was carried out with diethyl sulphate, benzyl chloride, 1-chloro-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene, benzoyl chloride. The synthesized surfactants were confirmed by IR spectra. Surface properties, wetting time, softness and antibacterial activity of the synthesized surfactants were investigated. The results showed that the synthesized esterquats exhibit high surface activities, better wetting times and very good softening properties. A synthesized cationic surfactant was further prepared for formulation of hair conditioning and body care. This product can be used in formulations of shampoo, fabric softener and liquid soaps and also it does not have any harmful impact to aquatic life. Further, the synthesized surfactant, prepared from 1-Chloro-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene, exhibit a better antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus . It was found that the alkylation agent and hydrocarbon chain length affected the results.