FIRST EVIDENCE OF POLY(ETHYLENE OXIDE)-MIXED SODIUM DODECYL-SULFATE SODIUM DECYL PHOSPHATE COMPLEXES

Polymer-mixed surfactant complex formation among poly(ethylene oxide), sodium dodecyl sulfate, and sodium decyl phosphate was identified usi ng conductivity measurements and following the kinetics of the acid-ca talyzed hydrolyses of di-tert-butyl and din-butyl benzaldehyde acetals . By conductivity, the onset of the mixed complexation, the critical a ggregation concentration, follows an ideal mixing behavior in the same way as takes place in the absence of polymer, previously investigated . The reaction of di-tert-butyl benzaldehyde acetal is generally acid catalyzed, and the first-order rate constant increases linearly up to ca. 0.5 mole fraction of sodium decyl phosphate; however, as the hydro lysis of di-n-butyl benzaldehyde acetal is specifically hydrogen ion c atalyzed, the rate constant is independent of the mole fraction of the phosphate surfactant. (C) 1997 Academic Press.