Equilibrium Distribution of Aromatic Compounds between Aqueous Solution and Coacervate of Nonionic Surfactants

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Studies have been made of the equilibrium distribution of aromatic compounds between an aqueous solution and a coacervate of a nonionic surfactant, polyoxy-ethylene nonyl phenyl ether, which has an average ethylene oxide number of 10. Phase separation of the surfactant solution was attained by allowing it to settle at a temperature above the cloud point, and then the aromatic compounds were partitioned into the surfactant-rich phase from the solution in a form of the neutral species. The extraction behavior could be interpreted in terms of the acid dissociation constant as a function of the solution pH. It was found that organics which lower the cloud point to larger extent can attain higher extraction. Furthermore, the cloud-point extraction of phenol in a mixed surfactant system has been examined.