Abstract

Experimental Studies on the Interaction Between Aqueous Solutions of Polymer and Surfactant

Author(s): Husain T and Kamil M

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between water soluble polymer (Xanthan gum) with an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), and a cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), at two temperatures 310.15 K and 318.15 K by using conductivity measurement. The behavior of surfactant-polymer interaction was found to be dependent on both surfactant and polymer concentrations. After the critical aggregation concentration (Cac), interaction between the water-soluble polymer and surfactants was started and above the critical micelle concentration (Cmc), normal micelle formation started and the polymer was saturated by surfactant with no further change of conductivity of the solution for particular concentrations of the polymer solution. Both Cac and Cmc increase with polymer concentration. The free energies of aggregation, ΔGagg, micellization, ΔGmic, and transfer, ΔGt associated with the binding interaction of the surfactants and polymers were calculated. The negative values of the ΔGt confirm the feasibility of interaction between the surfactant and polymer.