In this paper the phase behaviour and physical properties of a series
of alkyl (C-6, C-8, C-12 and iso-C-8) monoglycerol ethers and 2-hydrox
yalkyl (C-6, C-8, C-12) monoglycerol ethers are presented. The binary
phase diagram for the surfactants shows very little dependence on temp
erature. Ir can be seen that as the alkyl chain length increases the t
endency to form lamellar liquid crystalline phases increases. The bran
ched alkyl chain shows no formation of lamellar phases even at high co
ncentrations of surfactant. The difference in phase behaviour between
the surfactants is attributed to the variation in the critical packing
parameter (CPP) of the surfactants. The presence of an additional hyd
roxyl group in the alkyl chain causes temperature-independent solubili
ty behaviour. Ternary phase diagrams were prepared using dodecane as t
he oil phase. Hexyl glycerol ether was the only one of the alkyl glyce
rol ethers that was sufficiently water-soluble to determine the surfac
e tension and c. m. c. The c. m. c. was determined as 15 mM (and surfa
ce tension as 26 mN m(-1)).