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Experimental Study on Foam Properties of Mixed Systems of Silicone and Hydrocarbon Surfactants

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Abstract

Silicone surfactants are inevitably involved in industrial applications in combination with hydrocarbon surfactants, but properties of the mixtures of silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants have received little attention, especially foam properties of the mixtures. In this study, aqueous solutions of respective binary mixtures of a nonionic silicone surfactant with anionic, cationic, and nonionic hydrocarbon surfactants were prepared for evaluation of their foam properties. Surface tension of aqueous solutions of the mixtures were measured with the maximum bubble pressure method. Foaming ability and foam stability of the mixtures were then evaluated with the standard Ross–Miles method. The findings show that the addition of the silicone surfactant results in a decrease in surface tension for aqueous solutions of the hydrocarbon surfactants. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the hydrocarbon surfactants is also changed by the additive silicone surfactant. Additionally, clear foam synergistic effects were observed in the mixtures of silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants, regardless of the ionic types of the hydrocarbon surfactant. The foam stability of the hydrocarbon surfactant was shown to generally improve with the increasing concentration of the silicone surfactant. Even so, aqueous solutions of different ionic hydrocarbon surfactants in the presence of the silicone surfactant will give different foam stabilities. The results of the present study are meant to provide guidance for the practical application of foams generated by the mixtures of the silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants.

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Abbreviations

AFFF:

Aqueous film-forming foam

BAC-12:

Dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride

Brij30:

Polyoxyethylene (4) lauryl ether

PTS:

Polyoxyethylene trisiloxane surfactant

SDS:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate

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Acknowledgments

The present work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51323010) and supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. WK2320000034). The authors deeply appreciate the support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Youjie Sheng, Xiujuan Wu, Shouxiang Lu & Changhai Li

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  1. Youjie Sheng
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  2. Xiujuan Wu
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Correspondence to Shouxiang Lu.

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Sheng, Y., Wu, X., Lu, S. et al. Experimental Study on Foam Properties of Mixed Systems of Silicone and Hydrocarbon Surfactants. J Surfact Deterg 19, 823–831 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-016-1822-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-016-1822-y

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