Study of the Cloud Point of C12 E6 Nonionic Surfactant: Effect of Additives

Abstract

Abstract Addition of electrolytes to surfactant solutions does change the temperature at which the clouding phenomena occur. Electrolytes have a large effect on the cloud point (CP) of hexa ethyleneglycol mono-n-dodecyl ether (C12 E6)/water system, because of their effect on water structure and their hydrophilicity. In this work we report the effect of electrolytes (KCl, NaCl and Na2CO3) on the (CP) of C12 E6/water system. It has been observed that the cloud point as a function of electrolyte's concentration, depends mostly on the electrolyte's charge. Furthermore it has been observed that the two factors, temperature and salt concentration mainly affect equivalently the phase separation of C12 E6/water system. Moreover, ionic surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and carboxylate ethoxyle (TDC) have been used to investigate their effect on CP of C12 E6.