Solubilization and Adsolubilization of Polar and Nonpolar Organic Solutes by Linker Molecules and Extended Surfactants

Adsolubilization reaches its maximum when a surfactant adsorbed onto the solid-liquid interface achieves complete bilayer or maximum adsorption. The attempt to enhance the adsolubilization of organic solute is accomplished by increasing interaction between the hydrophobic core of adsorbed admicelles and the organic solute. Solubilization and adsolubilization were studied with linker-based and extended-surfactant-based systems. Extended surfactants have propylene oxide (PO) groups of intermediate polarity inserted between hydrophobic and lipophilic moieties in the surfactant molecule. This study evaluated the adsolubilization of polar (phenylethanol) and nonpolar (ethylcyclohexane) solutes into conventional linker-based and extended-surfactant-based admicelles. The results demonstrated that the extended-surfactant-based systems showed higher solubilization capacity than the conventional sodium dodecyl sulfate alone or with linker. For the polar solute, the presence of PO group has a greater effect than the number of PO groups or the tail length, while for the nonpolar solute as the number of POs groups and the tail length increased, the adsolubilization capacity also increased. Preliminary explanations for these observations are provided.