Contact angle of surfactant solutions on precipitated surfactant surfaces

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, the contact angle of a saturated aqueous surfactant solution onto the surface of a precipitate of that surfactant is investigated. Those precipitates include fatty acids (C10, C12, C14, C16, and C18), sodium salts of fatty acids (C14, C16, and C18), calcium salts of fatty acids (C8, C10, C12, C14, C16, and C18). On virgin surfaces, free fatty acids and calcium salts of fatty acids have advancing contact angles (θA) between 77 and 92°, with little dependence on alkyl chain length for C12 and higher alkyl chains. The sodium salt of a fatty acid has a lower θA than the free fatty or the calcium salt of the soap. The calcium salt of dodecyl sulfate has a lower θA than the calcium salt of dodecanoic acid (θA = 46 vs. 82°), but the calcium salt of the 18‐carbon hydrophobes showed nearly the same contact angle for the soap and the alkyl sulfate. Greasiness, or slipperyness, or a scummy feel of a precipitated surfactant does not necessarily correspond to a hydrophobic surface.