| The major objective of the present research work was to improve the performance of the microemulsion system for the acid-cleavable surfactant 2-ethyl 2-tridecanyl 4-monomethyl heptaethylene oxide 1,3 dioxolane, or Ck2-13 by combining it with other surfactants. The physicochemical behavior of the microemulsions formed by the binary surfactant system Ck2-13 with the ionic sodium bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate, or Aerosol-OT (AOT) was investigated. The phase diagrams of water/Ck2-13/AOT/isooctane revealed large microemulsion regions possessing insensitivity to temperature and salinity. Electrical conductivity combined with the Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and measurement of surface pressure versus surface area for Langmuir mono-layers proved that Ck2-13 decreases the interfacial interaction between AOT molecules at the water-oil interface of water-in-oil microemulsions. On a molecular level, the addition of Ck2-13 reduces the amount of water molecules strongly bound to the surfactant interfacial layer and increases the packing density of surfactant molecules at the interface, as suggested by electrical conductivity and FTIR experiments.; Furthermore, n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside, C 8betaG1, combined with Ck2-13 in isooctane/water (or 1%NaCl (aq)) microemulsion systems, was examined. Phase diagrams display microemulsion regions that are temperature-sensitive at low fractions of total surfactants. However, temperature-insensitive microemulsion phases are produced in the presence of salt. Based on the study of the mixed Ck2-13/C8betaG 1 monolayer film, the addition of Ck2-13 to C8betaG 1 have increased the packing density of the mixed surfactants through enhancing the area per molecule. On the other hand, DLS measurements demonstrate that Ck2-13 in the mixed Ck2-13/C8betaG1 oil micelle bears out to decrease the droplet size signifying an increase in the packing between the two surfactants at the oil-water interface.; A primary research work on synthesizing 3 types of 1,3 dioxolane surfactants: anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactant was performed. The anionic and cationic 1,3 dioxolane surfactants were successfully synthesized but their purity and yield from the final steps of the reactions need to be improved. The nonionic surfactant that is based on combining a 1,3 dioxolane with the glucose and polyethylene glycol is still under investigation. |
