DOUBLE-TAILED SURFACTANTS AND THEIR CHAIN-LENGTH COMPATIBILITY IN WATER-IN-OIL EMULSIONS

The effect of carbon number has been studied with three different series of double tailed surfactants, viz. poly(isobutylene)succinic anhydride esterified with di- and triethanolamine esters of n-alkylsuccinic anhydride and poly(isobutylene)succinic anhydride esterified with ((n-alkyloxy)propyl)diethanolamine. The primary hydrocarbon chain of the surfactants comprised polyisobutylene of approximately 34 backbone carbon number and the secondary hydrocarbon chain comprises n-alkyl groups varying from C8 to C20. The results indicate that the surface properties at the water-oil interface correlate well with chain length compatibility effects in the mixed surfactant and cosurfactant systems.