Exploring the cationic surfactant adsorption efficiency at concentrations relative to the critical micelle...

Studying the adsorption behavior of cationic surfactants can help to develop more effective strategies to limit their dispersion in the environment. However, there have few studies on the adsorption of cationic surfactants from the perspective of critical micelle concentration (CMC). In this study, with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and octadecyl trimethylammonium bromide (OTAB) serving as the model cationic surfactants, the effect of CMC on the adsorption behavior of cationic surfactant onto the surface of sodium alginate/silica (SA/SiO₂) microspheres was systematically revealed. The adsorption mechanism relative to CMC was investigated under different conditions, including surfactant concentration, pH, temperature, and adsorption time. The results suggest that at identical concentrations, the smaller the CMC value of the cationic surfactants, the greater the adsorption amount (q_t). q_t for CTAB and OTAB were 583.2 and 678.0 mg/g respectively, with the concentration higher than their CMC value. When the concentration was lower than the CMC value of the cationic surfactants, q_t for CTAB and OTAB were 123.2 and 138.7 mg/g, respectively. The CMC value of CTAB was lower than that of OTAB under identical conditions, suggesting that the adsorption of cationic surfactants is related to their CMC. These results are beneficial for the removal of cationic surfactants by adsorption methods.