Streaming potential measurements to understand the rheological properties of surfactant formulations containing...

Surfactant formulations are often based on an anionic primary surfactant combined with an amphoteric secondary surfactant. One popular option is the combination of lauryl ether sulfate and cocamidopropyl betaine, because such formulations are not only mild but also easy to thicken. Changes in the molecular structure of the betaine in terms of alkyl chain length distribution and headgroup structure do have dramatic effects on the viscosity of these formulations, as can be explained in terms of properties of rod-like micelles and exchange kinetics by oscillatory rheological measurements. The root cause of the effect of the different betaine derivatives on the micellar structure, however, remains unclear when considering rheology only. Although the streaming potential of colloidal objects is typically determined to forecast the stability of dispersions, we have used the streaming potential to characterize micellar solutions of different betaine surfactant structures. It could be shown that (a) the hydrophilicity of the surfactants can be nicely probed by this method and (b) there is a good correlation of these values with the rheological properties of binary mixtures of the betaines with anionic surfactant. Also, the chemical structure of the headgroups has a significant influence on both the isoelectric point and the magnitude of the streaming potential of the zwitterionic surfactants. These effects have again a dramatic influence on the interaction with anionic surfactants, as becomes obvious when looking at the rheology of such mixtures. Therefore, the findings obtained can be utilized to better understand and design surfactant formulations of a desired viscosity profile.