Synthesis of cardanol polyoxyethylene ether sulfosuccinate salts with different ethoxy chain lengths and their application in waterborne acrylic emulsion

A series of novel surfactants, cardanol polyoxyethylene ether sulfosuccinate salts (BGFS) were synthesized from cardanol polyoxyethylene ethers (BGF) with different ethoxy (EO) chain lengths, maleic anhydride and sodium sulfite. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) were used to characterize the structure of surfactant products. Their surface tension (Static and dynamic surface tension), foam properties, wetting ability and emulsifying property were tested systematically, and the influence of ethoxy chain length on their properties was investigated. The results show that when the ethoxy number is 12, the surfactant has the best surface, wetting, foam and emulsifying properties. Waterborne acrylic emulsion was synthesized with surfactant whose the ethoxy number was 12 as emulsifier. In this study, EO chain length plays a key role in surfactant performance by regulating hydrophilic-lipophilic balance. In addition, the relationship between different ethoxy chain lengths and properties was constructed by using biomass cardanol polyoxyethylene ethers as raw material, which provided a new idea for developing high performance and green biomass-based surfactants and showed potential application value in detergent, tertiary oil recovery and other fields.