Effect of n-Alkylamine Hydrochlorides on the Cloud Point of Nonionic Polyoxyethylated Surfactant

The salting in and salting out of Octoxynol, N.F., a nonionic polyoxyethylated surfactant by n-alkylamine hydrochlorides ws investigated by measuring their effect on the cloud point of the surfactant at various salt concentrations. The carbon number of the alkyl chain was varied from zero to twelve. Ammonium chloride, methylamine hydrochloride and ethylamine hydrochloride tended to salt out the surfactant, lowering its cloud point in proportion to the salt concentration. n-Ankylamine and n-butylamine hydrochlorides showed salting-out effect at low concentrations of the electrolyte, while their effects were leveled off and showed rather salting-in trend at higher concentrations of the electrolyte. These salting-in effect was ascribed to the formation of a hydrotropy of the n-alky lammonium cations with the surfactant. The higher homolog compounds of n-alkylamine hydrochlorides showed extraordinarily high salting-in effect at very low oncentrations of the electrolyte. These large salting-in effects were more drastic as the chain length was getting longer. These large increases of the cloud point of the surfactant were attributed to the formation of mixed micelles of n-alkylammonium cations with the polyoxyethylated surfactant.