Surfactants and Interfaces

A special issue of Colloids and Interfaces (ISSN 2504-5377).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 2451

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 Molecules.

Prof. Dr. Bronisław Jańczuk
Guest Editor

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Keywords

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

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3763 KiB  
Article
Extraction and Surface Activity of Australian Native Plant Extracts: Alphitonia excelsa
by Damien A. Sebben, Susan J. Semple, Mark R. Condina, Brooke A. Dilmetz, Peter Hoffmann, David J. Claudie, Marta Krasowska and David A. Beattie
Colloids Interfaces 2024, 8(4), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids8040046 - 19 Aug 2024
Viewed by 930
Abstract
Saponin surfactants extracted from plants have significant potential applications in many industries. The interfacial properties of extracts of Alphitonia excelsa, a native Australian plant rich in saponins, have been characterised to assess their suitability as dual-purpose foaming and antibacterial additives. Two sources [...] Read more.
Saponin surfactants extracted from plants have significant potential applications in many industries. The interfacial properties of extracts of Alphitonia excelsa, a native Australian plant rich in saponins, have been characterised to assess their suitability as dual-purpose foaming and antibacterial additives. Two sources of the plant (Adelaide Botanic Gardens and homelands of Chuulangun Aboriginal Corporation) were investigated to look for alteration of properties as a result of differences in cultivation and geographic location. Two methods of saponin extraction (water and water/ethanol mixtures) were investigated to determine differences in extraction efficiency and performance. Distinct differences were observed between the traditional analytical analysis (for saponin content) of the extracts based on source and extraction method; however, these differences were not as stark when considering the effect of the extracts on air–water interfacial tension and dilatational rheology, with extraction method proving to be the single biggest factor in extract efficacy. The data obtained point toward the presence of an altered array of surface-active species (different relative amounts of particular saponins in the water/ethanol extracted material) as a function of the extraction method. All extracts presented some antibacterial effect, albeit modest. This work highlights that the extraction method needs to be carefully considered and tailored for a given application. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surfactants and Interfaces)
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30 pages, 4249 KiB  
Article
Predictive Approach to the Phase Behavior of Polymer–Water–Surfactant–Electrolyte Systems Using a Pseudosolvent Concept
by Ji-Zen Sheu and Ramanathan Nagarajan
Colloids Interfaces 2024, 8(4), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/colloids8040040 - 21 Jun 2024
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Abstract
A predictive approach to the phase behavior of four-component polymer–water–surfactant–electrolyte systems is formulated by viewing the four-component system as a binary polymer–pseudosolvent system, with the pseudosolvent representing water, surfactant, and the electrolyte. The phase stability of this binary system is examined using the [...] Read more.
A predictive approach to the phase behavior of four-component polymer–water–surfactant–electrolyte systems is formulated by viewing the four-component system as a binary polymer–pseudosolvent system, with the pseudosolvent representing water, surfactant, and the electrolyte. The phase stability of this binary system is examined using the framework of the lattice fluid model of Sanchez and Lacombe. In the lattice fluid model, a pure component is represented by three equation-of-state parameters: the hard-core volume of a lattice site (v*), the number of lattice sites occupied by the component (r), and its characteristic energy (ε*). We introduce the extra-thermodynamic postulate that r and v* for the pseudosolvent are the same as for water and all surfactant–electrolyte composition-dependent characteristics of the pseudosolvent can be represented solely through its characteristic energy parameter. The key implication of the postulate is that the phase behavior of polymer–pseudosolvent systems will be identical for all pseudosolvents with equal values of characteristic energy, despite their varying real compositions. Based on the pseudosolvent model, illustrative phase diagrams have been computed for several four-component systems containing alkyl sulfonate/sulfate surfactants, electrolytes, and anionic or nonionic polymers. The pseudosolvent model is shown to describe all important trends in experimentally observed phase behavior pertaining to polymer and surfactant molecular characteristics. Most importantly, the pseudosolvent model allows one to construct a priori phase diagrams for any polymer–surfactant–electrolyte system, knowing just one experimental composition data for a system at the phase boundary, using available thermodynamic data on surfactants and electrolytes and without requiring any information on the polymer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surfactants and Interfaces)
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