Enhanced Adsorption of Alkyl Glucosides on the Silica/Water Interface by Addition of Amine Oxides

Abstract

The effect of adding a small amount of dodecyl dimethylamine oxide (DDAO) on adsorption on silica from an aqueous solution of dodecyl maltoside (C12G2) has been investigated. The C12G2 itself does not adsorb significantly on silica at any concentration. DDAO on the other hand readily adsorbs in a bilayer-like structure at concentrations approaching the critical micelle concentration (cmc), but the adsorbed amount at the concentrations it has been applied in these mixtures is small. In contrast, by combination of the two surfactants, significant adsorption is observed at concentrations where the adsorption of the pure DDAO, as well as pure C12G2, is very low. We thus see a strong enhancement of the adsorption from the mixed system. The adsorption is suggested to be a two-step process, where individual DDAO molecules first adsorb to the silica surface through electrostatic interactions, and then C12G2 adsorbs at the hydrophobic sites the DDAO tails constitute through hydrophobic bonding. A minimum concentration of DDAO is required to induce adsorption from a solution with constant C12G2 concentration. This concentration is lower for C12G2 solutions below and equal to cmcC12G2 than above cmcC12G2. In addition, the total adsorbed amount shows a maximum around cmcC12G2 of the mixture for a solution with low DDAO contents. Both these effects are explained by incorporation of DDAO in the mixed micelles above cmc(mix), which leads to a desorption of DDAO from the surface.