Antistatic and wetting properties of chemodegradable cationic surfactants containing 1,3-dioxolane moiety

In this paper we report some performance properties of [(2-alkyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl)methyl]trimethylammonium bromides (C-n-D-TAB, where C-n = n-C9H19, n-C11H23, n- C13H27), [(2,2-dialkyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl)methyl]dimethylammonium bromides (C-n-D-TAB, where C-n = n-C9H19, n-C11H23, n-C13H27), [(2,2-dialkyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-yl)methyl]dimethylammonium bromides (CnCm-D-TAB, where C-n = n-C8H17, n-C10H21 and C-m = CH3 or and C-n = C-m = n-C6H13), in relation to classical alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (C-n-TAB, where C-n = n-C12H25, n-C14H29 or C16H33) and dialkyldimethylammonium bromides (CnCm-DAB, where C-n = C-m = n-C10H21 and C12H25). Antistatic properties were measured by means of surface resistance (R-s), half charge decay time (tau(1/2)), and maximal voltage induced (U-ind) On polyethylene (PE) film and polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabric. Wetting ability is reported as the concentration of surfactant necessary for immersion of a cotton-fabric ring in 100 s, according to the Polish Standard PN-74/C-04800. All acetal-type surfactants showed the antistatic effect. The best results were given by C-9-D-TAB [R-s = 8.5 . 10(7) (PE), 1.1 . 10(8) Omega (PP); tau(1/2) = 0.25 (PE), 0.30 s (PP); U-ind = 205 (PE), 220 V (PP)] and C-11-D-TAB [R-s = 8.7 . 10(7) (PE), 1.3 . 10(8) Omega (PP); tau(1/2) = 0.25 (PE), 0.30 s (PP); U-ind = 190 (PE), 340 V (PP)] in relation to pure PE foils and PP fabric: R-s = 3.0 . 10(14) (PE), 9.8 . 10(14) Omega (PP); tau(1/2) = >600 (PE), >600 s (PP); U-ind = 985 (PE), 940 V (PP). Both C-9-D-TAB and C-11-D-TAB indicate similar degrees of antistatic ability compared to C10C10-DAB. All C-n-TAB compounds do not show any antistatic effects. It was concluded that addition of the 1,3-dioxolane moiety to the hydrophobic tail of quaternary ammonium salts promotes both antistatic and wetting properties. Additionally, methyl or n-hexyl group incorporation at the C-2 carbon atom in the 1,3-dioxolane ring significantly decreases the surface conductivity.