Interaction of nonionic surfactant AEO9 with ionic surfactants.

The interaction in two mixtures of a nonionic surfactant AEO9 (C12H25O(CH2CH2O)9H) and different ionic surfactants was investigated. The two mixtures were AEO9/sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and AEO9/cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at molar fraction of AEO9, alpha(AEO9) The surface properties of the surfactants, critical micelle concentration (CMC), effectiveness of surface tension reduction (gamma(CMC)), maximum surface excess concentration (Gamma(max)) and minimum area per molecule at the air/solution interface (A(min)) were determined for both individual surfactants and their mixtures. The significant deviations from ideal behavior (attractive interactions) of the nonionic/ionic surfactant mixtures were determined. Mixtures of both AEO9/SDS and AEO9/CTAB exhibited synergism in surface tension reduction efficiency and mixed micelle formation, but neither exhibited synergism in surface tension reduction effectiveness.