Study on Foaming Properties and Dynamic Surface Tension of Sodium Branched-alkyl Benzene Sulfonates

Foaming properties and the dynamic surface tension (DST) were carried out with aqueous solutions of sodium branched-alkyl benzene sulfonates to elucidate the relationship between foaming properties and surfactant structures. The parameters of the DST (t*, n, R-1/2) are correlated with the foaming ability for alkyl benzene sulfonates with benzene ring substituting at positions 2, 4, and 8 of hexadecane. The parameters of the DST (t*, n, R-1/2) are correlated with the foaming ability of the same surfactant solutions. The results indicated that the molecular diffusion in the solution, adsorption, and arrangement at the air/water interface were changed with different molecular structures: changing the substituted position of benzene ring from 2 to 8 of hexadecane, the value of t* and n decrease, and the value of R-1/2 increases, which lead to the high dynamic surface activity and high foam volume. The foam stability is correlated with the high surface dilational elasticity and the strength of surface monolayer: changing the substituted position of benzene ring from 2 to 8 of hexadecane, the branched-alkyl chain becomes more flexible, which is characterized by densely packed adsorbed molecules and high film elasticity of the adsorption film. Therefore, the foam stability increases.