THE ADSORPTION BEHAVIOR OF DIALKYL DIMETHYL AMMONIUM CHLORIDE-NONIONIC SURFACTANT BINARY-SYSTEMS

From the practical standpoint of fabric softener formulation, a comparative study was made on adsorption behavior toward fabrics of binary systems consisting of di(hydrogenated tallow) dimethyl ammonium chloride (purified Arquad 2HT) and typical polyoxyethylenated nonionic surfactants which are commonly used as auxiliary agents for softeners. Soxhlet extraction of treated fabrics and quantitative analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) gave significant results indicating many of these nonionic surfactants, assumed to be inherently unadsorbable in rinse-cycle treatment, were highly adsorbable even at a high bath ratio by being applied with the water-insoluble cationic surfactant. Moreover, it was also disclosed that the hydrophobic structure of nonionic surfactants is another factor, other than hydrophobicity, determining adsorption. Furthermore, the mechanism of this nonionic adsorption was elucidated on the basis of results of structural analyses of binary dispersions by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction, electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) and transmission electromicroscopy (TEM) in addition to partition measurements of the surfactants into the dispersed and the continuous aqueous phases. It was concluded that the primary driving force for this nonionic adsorption is an association with the lamellar of Arquad 2HT and that the cationic vesicles act as “anchors” in adsorption. © 1990, The American Oil Chemists’ Society. All rights reserved.