A study of the interactions of ternary surfactant systems at the water-air interface

Surface tension measurements were carried out for the systems containing ternary mixtures of cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) and p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)phenoxypoly(ethylene glycols), Triton X-100 (TX100) and Triton X-165 (TX165). The aqueous solution of ternary surfactant mixtures were prepared by adding the third surfactant to the binary mixture of the surfactants where the synergetic effect in the reduction of the surface tension of water were determined to compare the influence of the third surfactants on the adsorption of this binary mixture at the water-air interface. The obtained results and calculations indicate that the synergetic effect in the reduction of the surface tension of water was deepened after adding the third surfactant to the binary mixture at the composition at which this effect was observed. The best synergetic effect in the γLV reduction was determined on the basis of the values of the molecular interaction parameter for aqueous solutions of ternary mixtures of CTAB+TX165 (α CTAB=0.2) (γLV= 50 mN/m, C=4.3 × 10 M) +TX100 (C=10-10 M). © 2009 American Chemical Society.