On Plate Resolution and Identification of Three-Component Mixture of Nonionic Surfactants

Silica gel 60 F-254 plates were used with mixed aqueous-organic solvent systems consisting of dioxan and lithium chloride for the chromatography of three nonionic surfactants. The resolution of coexisting Triton X-100, Brij-57 and Brij-78 was achieved with the solvent system 1,4-dioxan: 1% aqueous LiCl (40:60, v/v). The effect of concentration of Li+ ions in the solvent system on the mobility of the three surfactants was studied. The interference on the resolution of the mixture of Triton X-100, Brij-57 and Brij-78, due to the presence of metal cations as impurities, is also examined. The limits of detection of Triton X-100, Brij-57 and Brij-78 estimated were 0.075, 0.150 and 0.20 mu g/zone respectively. The practical applicability of proposed method was tested for the identification of three coexisting nonionic surfactants after their separation from the spiked aqueous systems.