Adsorption of anionic and non-ionic surfactants on a cellulosic surface

Abstract

The adsorption of an anionic surfactant, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (NaDBS) and a non-ionic surfactant, Triton X-100 (TX-100) has been studied on cellulose surfaces with and without the presence of electrolytes by using both spectrophotometric and titrametric methods. The adsorption isotherms are identified with four different regimes for both surfactants. Two important phenomena reflected in the adsorption isotherms are the steep increase in adsorption due to hemimicellisation below the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the decrease in the adsorption above the CMC. Adsorption of anionic surfactant, NaDBS gets enhanced in presence of monovalent (K+) or bivalent (Ca2+) cation while for non-ionic surfactant, TX-100 there is no such enhancement in adsorption in presence of salt.