Synthesis And Properties Of Unsymmetrical Bolaform Surfactants

As a new kind of surfactant, Bolaform surfactant, with one hydrophobic chain connected by two hydrophilic groups, has attracted many researchers' attention. Arylalkyl sulphonate surfactant exhibits very good properties in using in enhanced oil recovery, but its material,α-olefin is more and more expensive with the shortage of oil resources.On the background above, renewable resources oleic acid is used to substitute theα-olefin, then aromatic group is introduced to the oleic acid and after sulfonated, a new kind of Bolaform surfactant is designed in this paper. This Bolaform surfactant has a bright prospect in sustainable development because the material oleic acid is inexpensive and is a renewable resource. In addition, Bolafrom surfactant has good surface properties, so it is hoped that our target compound also has good surface properties which lead to a good industrial prospect.Some kind of sulfonic acid is chosen as the catalyst of the alkylation, and then the synthesis route of unsymmetrical Bolaform surfactant has been decided and the product with high content can be obtained after purification. The cost can be reduced by the recovery and recycling of the catalyst successfully. In the process of the alkylation, GC and GC-MS are both used to analyze the composition of the alkylate, process conditions have been researched to enhance the content of the aryl oleic acid. At last, the composition of the raw product of unsymmetrical Bolaform surfactant has been determined which lays a foundation for the research of its properties.The properties of this unsymmetrical Bolaform surfactant have been measured. Both the raw product and the product after purification can achieve a low surface tension, and in both of their surface tension curves, there are two breaks which conform with the properties of Bolaform surfactant reported. The IFT of both the raw product and the product after purification can produce an ultra-low interfacial tension (10^-3mN/m) for the crude oil, but the equilibrium interfacial tension is high. The solubilization capacity of the Bola product is better than the classic surfactant and especially of the raw product. In washing field, the washing effect of the Bola raw product is better than the LAS, the foamability of the Bola raw product is worse than the LAS, and the lime soap dispersing power of the Bola raw product is worse than the LAS. So it has a bright prospect to become a new kind of detergent with low foam and high efficiency.