Mixed Micellar and Interfacial Interactions of a Triblock Polymer (EO37PO56EO37) with a Series of Monomeric and Dimeric Surfactants

The mixed micellar and interfacial properties of mixtures of triblock polymer (TBP) with a series of monomeric (dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide, and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, and dimeric (dimethylene bis[alkyldimethylammonium bromide], m-2-m, where m = 10, 12, and 14) cationic surfactants were investigated using surface tension and viscosity measurements in aqueous solutions at different temperatures. Various physicochemical properties such as critical micelle concentration, mixed micellar mole fraction, interaction parameter, interfacial, and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated. All the binary mixtures exhibit synergistic interactions which increase with temperature and pass through a minimum with the increase in hydrophobic chain length of the cationic surfactants. The contribution of TBP in mixed micelle formation also increases with the hydrophobic chain length of the surfactants. The interfacial and thermodynamic parameters reveal that the adsorption of the surfactant mixtures at the air-solution interface is more favorable than that of micelle formation and the unfavorable enthalpy changes are overwhelmed by favorable entropy changes. Further, the mixtures of TBP with smaller chain length surfactants show a sharp rise in relative viscosity at higher mole fractions of these surfactants.