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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Extraction and Characterization of Surfactants from Atmospheric Aerosols
Published on: April 21, 2017
Surface Activity, Wetting, and Aggregation of a Perfluoropolyether Quaternary Ammonium Salt Surfactant with a
Jiangxun Dou1, Jiaoyan Liu1, Yan Wang1
1School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China.
Abstract:
This paper reports the synthesis of a novel quaternary surfactant containing a hydroxyethyl group (PFPE-C) and the surface properties of its aqueous solution (investigated by comparisons with two structurally similar chemicals, dodecyl-(2-hydroxyethyl)-dimethylammonium chloride (DHDAC) and PFPE-A). The minimum surface tension (γCMC) and critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the PFPE-C aqueous solution were 17.35 mN/m and 0.024 mmol/L, respectively. This study confirms that surfactants containing hydroxyethyl groups efficiently reduce the surface tension of aqueous solutions, and fluorocarbon surfactants exhibit better surface activity than ordinary hydrocarbon surfactants with similar structures. The micellization, aggregation, air-water interfacial adsorption, and wettability of PFPE-C aqueous solutions have been systematically investigated. Highly concentrated PFPE-C aqueous solutions exhibit good wettability on PTFE and paraffin films. Moreover, the aggregates of PFPE-C in the aqueous solution were clearly seen as vesicles on Cryo-TEM micrographs. Primary biodegradation results indicate that 19% of PFPC-C can be degraded within one week.
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