Adhesion of anionic surfactants to polymer surfaces and low-energy materials

Abstract

To study the adhesion of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to various materials, a schematic molecular model of SDS was used which optimally correlates with its critical micelle concentration (c.m.c.) values under various conditions. Using the surface tension components and parameters of (a) the SDS apolar and polar moieties and (b) the polymeric surfaces of cellulose and nylon, the energy of adhesion of SDS to these polymeric surfaces as well as to a typical low-energy material (greasy dirt) in the guise of hexadecane was determined. It could be quantitatively shown (using a surface-thermodynamic approach) that SDS, in water, adheres more strongly to the low-energy (greasy dirt) compounds than to the polymeric materials. The c.m.c. of SDS was derived directly from the surface tension components and parameters of its apolar and polar moieties, and the ζ potential of its polar heads. The c.m.c. values obtained using this model correlate well with the published c.m.c. values obtained exper...