Influence of Chemical Structure of Fluorinated Surfactants on the Air/Water Interface Properties

The formation heats for a number of gemini fluorocarbon surfactants have been estimated using density functional theory (DFT), the values of air/water interface formation energies (IFE) have been compared. It is shown that the fluorocarbon surfactants can efficiently reduce the surface tension of the air/water interface. One of the representatives of the surfactants, possessing the highest IFE value (in absolute value), has been prepared and its critical micelle concentration and the corresponding surface tension have been experimentally determined.