“Analysing the Energetics of Phase Separation in Non-Ionic Surfactant Brij-30: Investigating the Influence of Head Group Gathering”.

Abstract

The main motto of this paper was to study how the hydrophilic surfactant head group
gathering affects the phase behavior of a 22% alcoholic solution of a non-ionic surfactant,
Polyoxyethylene (4) lauryl ether (Brij-30) and hydroxyl amine mixtures at different concentrations.
Our conclusions show that the hydrophilic part of the surfactant suppresses the system's
propensity to undergo phase separation, an increased sensitivity due to the presence of hydroxyl
amines. The CP decreases with an increasing concentration of mono, di, and Triethanolamine in a
22% alcoholic solution of Brij 30 surfactant. CP increases with concentration in methyl
ethanolamine while decreases in diethanolamine with concentration the same trend is observed in
the case of methyl diethanolamine and triethanolamine. Generally, ethanolic groups exhibit an
increase in Cloud Point (CP) with increased alkyl branching. The amines in ethanolamine show
variation in CP by integrating into the head region with proton-rich amine groups at the micelle
interface. By utilizing the traditional thermodynamic model for phase separation, we assessed the
various corresponding energy parameters.
Amongst all instances, we found that all the parameters fluctuated based on non-ionic
surfactant type, its micellar concentration, and the involvement of hydroxyl amine in the aqueous
medium. All the experimental findings are consistent because phase separation occurs due to
decreased hydration of the surfactant head group induced by elevated temperature.