Short Course on

SURFACTANTS AND BLOCK COPOLYMERS:

SOLUTION, INTERFACIAL AND COLLOIDAL PROPERTIES

How molecular structures of surfactants influence their interfacial and colloidal properties?

How do these properties affect their mechanism of action in varied applications?

How can we select surfactants for optimal performance in practical applications?

These questions provide the motivation for this short course.

The short course is designed as a one-day course with approximately eight hours of lecture.

The course is also offered at industrial sites either as a one–day course or as an extended two–day course with three sessions of approximately ten hours of lecture.

For information on next available course date, location and registration, contact:

R. (Nagu) Nagarajan

Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering

The Pennsylvania State University

E-Mail: RXN@PSU.EDU

Internet: http://www.personal.psu.edu/rxn

Tentative Course Schedule

8:00 AM Introduction to surfactants

8:15 AM Surfactants in aqueous solutions

9:00 AM Surfactants in non-aqueous solutions

9:30 AM Surfactant mixtures

10:00 AM Solubilization

10:30 AM Microemulsions

11:00 AM Surfactant-polymer interactions

11:30 AM Block copolymers in solutions

Noon Lunch

1:00 PM Self-assembly at solid-liquid interfaces

1:30 PM Surface and interfacial tension lowering

2:00 PM Wetting and spreading

2:30 PM Macroemulsions

3:00 PM Foaming and anti-foaming

3:30 PM Detergency

4:00 PM Dispersion of solids in liquids

4:30 PM Review and conclusions

DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION TO SURFACTANTS

Description of a surfactant

Types and chemical structures of surfactants

Description of a block copolymer

Types of block copolymers

Behavior of surfactants at interfaces

Behavior of surfactants in bulk solutions

Organization of the course

SURFACTANTS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Formation of micelles and vesicles in water

Critical micelle concentration

Why molecules aggregate ?

What factors control aggregate size and shape?

Principle of opposing forces of Tanford

Packing parameter model

Influence of surfactant tail group

Influence of surfactant head group

Influence of added electrolytes

Formation of rodlike micelles and vesicles

Phase behavior of surfactant-water system

SURFACTANTS IN NON-AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Nature of aggregates in non-polar solvents

Influence of surfactant molecular structure

Influence of temperature

Influence of solvent polarity

Aggregation in polar, organic solvents

Aggregation in mixed aqueous-organic solvents

SURFACTANT MIXTURES

Formation of mixed micelles

Ideal and non-ideal mixtures

Surfactant mixtures - head group variations

Surfactant mixtures - tail group variations

SOLUBILIZATION

Phenomenon of solubilization

Solubilizate uptake in surfactant micelles

What factors control solubilization ?

Solubilization in ionic micelles

Solubilization in nonionic micelles

Solubilization‑induced rod‑to‑sphere transition

Solubilization of binary hydrocarbon mixtures

Solubilization in mixed micelles

MICROEMULSIONS

Droplet microemulsions

Bicontinuous microemulsions

Phase transitions between microemulsion systems

Nonionic microemulsions

Microemulsions with ionic surfactants

Use of cosurfactants

Interfacial tension in microemulsion systems

SURFACTANT-POLYMER INTERACTIONS

Polymer-surfactant complexation

Nonionic polymer - globular micelle interactions

Interaction with rod-like micelles

Interaction with vesicles and bilayers

Interaction with microemulsions

Ionic polymer-ionic surfactant interactions

BLOCK COPOLYMERS IN SOLUTIONS

Block copolymer micelles

Influence of solvophobic block

Influence of solvophilic block

Aggregate shape transitions

Analogy with surfactant aggregation

Solubilization in block copolymer micelles

Phase behavior of block copolymer-water system

Block copolymer aggregates in oil-water system

SELF-ASSEMBLY AT SOLID-LIQUID INTERFACES

Adsorption isotherms at solid-liquid interfaces

Patterns of aggregation from AFM studies

Why self-assembly occurs ?

Aggregation on Hydrophobic surfaces

Aggregation on hydrophilic surfaces

Concentration dependence of aggregate morphologies

SURFACE AND INTERFACIAL TENSION LOWERING

Adsorption of surfactants at air-liquid interface

Effectiveness and efficiency of adsorption

Lowering of surface tension by surfactants

Adsorption of surfactants at liquid-liquid interfaces

Lowering of interfacial tension by surfactants

WETTING AND SPREADING

Description of wetting and spreading

Mechanism of action of surfactants in wetting

Mechanism of action of surfactants in spreading

Selecting surfactants for wetting and spreading

MACROEMULSIONS

Simple and multiple emulsions

Factors affecting emulsion stability

Phase inversion temperature (PIT)

Selecting surfactants based on HLB number and PIT

FOAMING AND ANTI-FOAMING

Description of foams

Factors affecting foam stability

Selecting surfactants as foaming agents

Description of anti-foaming

Mechanism of action of surfactants in anti-foaming

Selecting surfactants to break foams

DETERGENCY

Description of cleaning process

Mechanism of action of surfactants in cleaning

Selecting surfactants for detergency

DISPERSION OF SOLIDS IN LIQUIDS

Description of solid dispersions

Description of coagulation/flocculation

Mechanism of action of surfactant in particle stabilization

Selection of surfactants as stabilizers and flocculators

Block copolymers as stabilizers

Stabilization of nanoparticle dispersions

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