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Related Concept Videos

Surface Active Agents01:27

Surface Active Agents

Surfactants, named for their behavior at interfaces, positively adsorb at the interfaces of two phases, reducing interfacial tension. Their versatility as emulsifiers, detergents, and foaming agents stems from this ability. Surfactants, often termed amphiphiles, share the property of amphipathy, with molecules having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic portions. The hydrophilic part is called the head, and the hydrophobic part, including an elongated alkyl substituent, forms the tail.Surfactants...
Micelles01:30

Micelles

Micelle formation is an intricate process that hinges on the properties of amphiphilic or amphipathic molecules and the conditions of the system in which they are found. Amphiphilic molecules, which have both hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repelling) parts, play a critical role in this process.In aqueous environments, these molecules arrange themselves such that their hydrophilic heads are turned towards the water phase, while their hydrophobic tails are oriented away...
Entropy and Solvation02:05

Entropy and Solvation

The process of surrounding a solute with solvent is called solvation. It involves evenly distributing the solute within the solvent. The rule of thumb for determining a solvent for a given compound is that like dissolves like. A good solvent has molecular characteristics similar to those of the compound to be dissolved. For example, polar solutions dissolve polar solutes, and apolar solvents dissolve apolar solutes. A polar solvent is a solvent that has a high dielectric constant (ϵ ≥ 15); an...
Breathing01:05

Breathing

The process of breathing, inhaling and exhaling, involves the coordinated movement of the chest wall, the lungs, and the muscles that move them. Two muscle groups with important roles in breathing are the diaphragm, located directly below the lungs, and the intercostal muscles, which lie between the ribs. When the diaphragm contracts, it moves downward, increasing the volume of the thoracic cavity and creating more room for the lungs to expand. When the intercostal muscles contract, the ribs...
Gas Solubility01:31

Gas Solubility

Gas solubility in liquids forms liquid-gas solutions, such as soft drinks, where carbon dioxide is dissolved in water, and the ocean, where the solubility of oxygen and carbon dioxide supports marine life. The ability of oceans to dissolve gases impacts weather conditions in the troposphere.However, gas-liquid interactions vary. For instance, hydrogen chloride gas is highly soluble in water, while oxygen's solubility is much lower. Because these solutions are non-ideal, Raoult’s law, which...
Chemical and Solubility Equilibria02:21

Chemical and Solubility Equilibria

The free energy change associated with dissolving a solute in a liter of solvent is called the free energy of a solution, ΔGsolution. The overall ΔGsolution is expressed as the balance of ΔGinteraction against the always-favorable free-energy of mixing, ΔGmixing. Solution formation is favorable if  ΔGsolution is less than zero, whereas it is unfavorable if ΔGsolution is greater than zero. In short, for a solution to form and complete dissolution to take place, the Gibbs energy change must be...

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Studying Surfactant Effects on Hydrate Crystallization at Oil-Water Interfaces Using a Low-Cost Integrated Modular Peltier Device
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Surfactant aggregation in CO2/heptane solvent mixtures.

Martin J Hollamby1, Kieran Trickett, Azmi Mohamed

  • 1School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|September 8, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Adding heptane to carbon dioxide (CO2) improves its solvent quality, enhancing surfactant solubility and aggregate formation for AOT surfactant. This boosts surfactant efficiency in CO2-rich fluids compared to pure CO2.

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Area of Science:

  • Physical Chemistry
  • Materials Science
  • Chemical Engineering

Background:

  • Understanding surfactant behavior in supercritical fluids is crucial for applications like enhanced oil recovery and materials processing.
  • Pure liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) has limited solvent quality for many surfactants, restricting its use.
  • Improving CO2 solvent quality with cosolvents can broaden its applicability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of enhanced CO2 solvent quality on surfactant phase behavior and micellization.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of heptane as a cosolvent for improving CO2's ability to solubilize and aggregate surfactants.
  • To test the applicability of the Hildebrand solubility parameter for CO2-heptane mixtures.

Main Methods:

  • High-pressure small-angle neutron scattering (HP-SANS) was employed to study surfactant aggregation.
  • Systematic variation of heptane concentration in CO2-heptane mixtures.
  • Measurement of phase behavior and micelle formation at various conditions.

Main Results:

  • Nonionic C(12)E(5) surfactant showed high solubility but no aggregation in pure CO2 or CO2-heptane blends.
  • Addition of heptane (>30 vol %) to CO2 significantly enhanced solubility and promoted aggregate formation of AOT surfactant.
  • The Hildebrand solubility parameter correlated with observed surfactant aggregation in CO2-heptane mixtures.

Conclusions:

  • Heptane effectively improves the solvent quality of CO2 for specific surfactants like AOT.
  • Enhanced CO2 solvent quality boosts surfactant solubility and micellization efficiency.
  • This approach offers a pathway to utilize CO2-based solvent systems for surfactant applications.