Foam and Rheological Properties of a Kind of Extended Surfactants

Abstract

Abstract The foam and rheological properties of four extended surfactants C12–14PmE2S (m = 0, 3, 5, and 8) of four different concentrations were investigated in this paper. The foam properties, including, foamability, foam stability, liquid carrying ability, foam drainage and foam morphology were characterized. The rheological measurements were carried out through frequency sweep in the oscillation mode. The foamability and foam stability decreased with increasing numbers of PO groups embedded in those surfactants. At the same concentration, the longer the PO chain of the surfactant molecule, the larger the liquid carrying capacity of the foam. The foaming number decreases as the time increases, and longer PO chains were associated with faster foam number decline. The rheological measurements show that those surfactant solutions are “liquid-like”. With increasing surfactant concentration, the viscous modulus of C12–14P8E2S increases gradually, whereas that of C12–14E2S decreases.