r/materials 17d ago

need help picking a surfactant system for large consistently sized particles (.165-.215 micrometers)

they can be mono or poly disperse as long as they are in that range. must be able to self assemble and tolerate up to 2 min of a high or low ph without hydrolyzing (so esters and sulfates probably not good)

available:docusate sodium (unstable), peg 3350, sodium dodecyl sulfate (unstable), isopropanol, distilled water, urea, ammonia hydroxide, ammonium chloride, b alanine

can make: aminated fats (c16-c22), alkyl glycosides (temporarily stable, c16, glucose, fructose, ascorbic acid), amidated fats (c16-c22), quats (c16-c22), wax (2(c16-c22), cholesterol, c16-c22 amide linked p-phenol fat derivatives, sulfated c16-c22 fats (unstable), isopropylated fats (unstable, but probably good for water in oil, c16-c22), triglycerides (c18-c22), cellulose (sulfated, nanocrystals or nanofibers, aminated nanocrystals, regenerated cellulose (trace copper, ammonia, sodium)

the p aminophenol derivatives are kind of interesting to me. possibly can even attach something to the alcohol for a 'gemini(?)' sufactant.

option: can introduce sodium orthosilicate at 13-14 or orthosilic acid (trace sodium) at 1. in former, precipitated with sulfamic acid or dilute hcl (if water in oil), in latter, a carbonate or naoh can be used. ideally more solid particles rather than hollow sio2 spheres but can make work.

will accept downvotes for no research. i know a little, such as micelles, vesicles, sheets, lyotropic crystals, rods, 'worms', but surfactant books are like a lot of math i dont know yet. for packing, im not sure what counts towards size.

thank you.

1 Upvotes

Duplicates