Adsorption of a surfactant mixture at the surface of calcium carbonate from aqueous solutions

Regularities of adsorption on a hydrophilic surface of calcium carbonate an d at the surfactant solution-air interface from aqueous solutions of mixtur es of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and p-tert-octylphenyl ether of poy(ethylene glycol) (Triton X-100) are studied. In both cases, adsorption of a surfactant mixture depends on the surfactant molar ratio in solution. The surfactant mixture was shown to reveal the effect of synergism during adsorption at the surfactant solution-air interface at low CTAB concentrati ons. Within the entire studied concentration range, the adsorption of a sur factant mixture on a solid surface seems to be less than the sum of the ads orption values for individual surfactants, The lowest value of adsorption o n a solid surface is observed at the surfactant ratio corresponding to the point of maximum synergism with respect to micellization in solution and ma ximum adsorption at the surfactant solution-air interface.