PARTITIONING OF 3 NONIONIC ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS BETWEEN ADSORBED SURFACTANTS, MICELLES, AND WATER

The partitioning of three nonionic organic compounds between aggregates of an anionic surfactant adsorbed onto positively-charged aluminum oxide, the micellar phase of the anionic surfactant, and water was investigated. Uptake of the nonionic organic compounds from water was observed by both the surfactant layer adsorbed onto the oxide and the micelles of the surfactant in solution. As the molecular sizes of the solutes increased and their solubility in water decreased, their uptake from water per unit mass of surfactant became more efficient for the micellar phase than for the surfactant layer sorbed onto the oxide. Continuous-flow column experiments were performed first, to demonstrate that the partitioning measured in batch experiments between the nonionic organics, the different surfactant phases, and water could be used to describe a dynamic system; and second, to illustrate a potential water-treatment process that is based on these dynamics.