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Surfactants and Interfaces

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Macromolecular Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 3969

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Interfacial Phenomena, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Maria Curie-Skłodowska Square 3, 20-031 Lublin, Poland
Interests: adsorption; adhesion; micellization; wettability; thermodynamic; surfactants; interface tension
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

From year to year, the demand for synthetic surfactants of natural origin, and those produced by bacteria and fungi, is greater and greater. This is closely related to the effects of these surface active agents on the liquid–gas, liquid–liquid, solid–gas, and solid–liquid interface properties. The adsorption of surfactants at the liquid–gas and liquid–liquid interfaces results in interface tension reduction, but that at the solid–gas and solid–liquid interfaces can cause both a decrease and increase in the interface tension, and in some cases, it does not cause any changes in interface tension. As a matter of fact, adsorption at various interfaces is associated with the amphiphilic structure of the surfactant molecules. The result of adsorption is the formation of interface layers of specific properties, which depend on the kind of surfactant, the size of its molecules, and the orientation at the interface and the kind of interface. The properties of the adsorption layers at the interfaces are closely related to the practical application of surfactants in washing, solubilization, emulsification, and foaming. Indeed, for practical application, there are no single surfactants, but their mixtures of different compositions depending on the required properties of the adsorption layers, e.g., density, elasticity, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, etc. This Special Issue aims to present the latest achievements regarding the mechanism of the adsorption processes at the interfaces, their thermodynamics, and the physicochemical properties of the obtained adsorption layers.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Colloids and Interfaces.

Prof. Dr. Bronisław Jańczuk
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • adsorption
  • aggregation
  • wettability
  • solubilization
  • foaming
  • emulsification

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 3186 KiB  
Communication
Synthesis, Performance, Mechanism: A Hyperbranched Phase Reverse Nano-Demulsifier for Condensate Emulsion
by Lei Liang, Chao Su, Yujia Xiong, Lei Wei, Congyue Gu, Haifeng Ye, Qinghua Xiao and Xingyu Luo
Molecules 2023, 28(23), 7692; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28237692 - 21 Nov 2023
Viewed by 672
Abstract
Organic amine and nanosilica were combined to create a nano-demulsifier, which was employed in the oil–water separation process of a condensate emulsion. The nano-demulsifier has the structure of hyperbranched polymers and the skeleton structure of hyperbranched nanomaterials, and displays the demulsification impact of [...] Read more.
Organic amine and nanosilica were combined to create a nano-demulsifier, which was employed in the oil–water separation process of a condensate emulsion. The nano-demulsifier has the structure of hyperbranched polymers and the skeleton structure of hyperbranched nanomaterials, and displays the demulsification impact of organic amine polymers as well as the synergistic effect of nanomaterials. This nano-demulsifier has the potential to drastically reduce the quantity of condensate demulsifiers utilized in the gathering station. The dehydration rate of the condensate lotion in the gas gathering station can reach more than 95% only at a concentration of 1.0 wt.%. Its application can significantly increase the separation efficiency of the condensate emulsion as well as the quality of condensate oil. It has a positive impact on cost reduction and efficiency in gas well production. The mechanism of action of the demulsifier was also studied, and the results show that the demulsifier is a phase reverse demulsifier. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surfactants and Interfaces)
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17 pages, 1891 KiB  
Article
Thermodynamic Characterization of Rhamnolipid, Triton X-165 and Ethanol as well as Their Mixture Behaviour at the Water-Air Interface
by Anna Zdziennicka, Maria Luisa González-Martín, Edyta Rekiel, Katarzyna Szymczyk, Wojciech Zdziennicki and Bronisław Jańczuk
Molecules 2023, 28(13), 4987; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28134987 - 25 Jun 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 746
Abstract
In many industrial fields, in medicine or pharmacy, there are used multi-component mixtures of surfactants as well as more and more often mixtures containing biosurfactants. Thus, in our study the mixtures of rhamnolipid (RL), ethanol (ET) and Triton X-165 (TX165) were applied. For [...] Read more.
In many industrial fields, in medicine or pharmacy, there are used multi-component mixtures of surfactants as well as more and more often mixtures containing biosurfactants. Thus, in our study the mixtures of rhamnolipid (RL), ethanol (ET) and Triton X-165 (TX165) were applied. For these mixtures the surface tension of aqueous solutions with constant concentration and composition of ET and RL as well as the variable concentration of TX165 was measured. Based on the obtained results and the literature data, thermodynamic analyses of the adsorption process of ET, RL, TX165, binary mixtures of ET + RL, ET + TX165 and RL + TX165 as well as the ternary mixtures of RL + ET + TX165 at the water-air interface were made. This analysis allows to propose a new equation for calculation of the total ethanol concentration at the water-air interface using the Guggenheim-Adam adsorption isotherm. The constants in the Langmuir and Szyszkowski equations for each component of the studied mixtures as well as the composition of the mixed monolayer at the water-air interface were also successfully analysed based on the contribution of particular surface active compounds to the water surface tension reduction as well as based on the Frumkin isotherm of adsorption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surfactants and Interfaces)
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28 pages, 4608 KiB  
Article
Surface Properties of Graffiti Coatings on Sensitive Surfaces Concerning Their Removal with Formulations Based on the Amino-Acid-Type Surfactants
by Marcin Bartman, Sebastian Balicki, Lucyna Hołysz and Kazimiera A. Wilk
Molecules 2023, 28(4), 1986; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28041986 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1864
Abstract
Water-in-oil (w/o) nanoemulsions stabilized with amino acid surfactants (AAS) are one example of nanotechnology detergents of the “brush on, wipe off”-type for removing graffiti coatings from different sensitive surfaces. The high-pressure homogenization (HPH) process was used to obtain the nanostructured fluids (NSFs), including [...] Read more.
Water-in-oil (w/o) nanoemulsions stabilized with amino acid surfactants (AAS) are one example of nanotechnology detergents of the “brush on, wipe off”-type for removing graffiti coatings from different sensitive surfaces. The high-pressure homogenization (HPH) process was used to obtain the nanostructured fluids (NSFs), including the non-toxic and eco-friendly components such as AAS, esterified vegetable oils, and ethyl lactate. The most effective NSF detergent was determined by response surface methodology (RSM) optimization. Afterwards, several surface properties, i.e., topography, wettability, surface free energy, and the work of water adhesion to surfaces before and after their coverage with the black graffiti paint, as well as after the removal of the paint layers by the eco-remover, were determined. It was found that the removal of graffiti with the use of the NSF detergent is more dependent on the energetic properties and microporous structure of the paint coatings than on the properties of the substrates on which the layers were deposited. The use of NSFs and knowledge of the surface properties could enable the development of versatile detergents that would remove unwanted contamination from various surfaces easily and in a controlled way. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surfactants and Interfaces)
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