Synthesis and Properties of a Quaternary Ammonium Salt Gemini Surfactant with Diethyl Ether as the Spacer Group

A quaternary ammonium salt gemini surfactant (C 12 N) 2 O with diethyl ether as the spacer group was synthesized by dodecyl dimethyl amine and 2-chloroethyl ether. The structure of the product was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra ( 1 H NMR), which showed that the structure of the synthesized product was consistent with the theoretical structure. We tested the surface tension of (C 12 N) 2 O at 25°C and found the critical micelle concentration (CMC) was roughly 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of dodecyl trimethylamine chloride (DTAC). Gemini structure and the unique diethyl ether spacer group endowed the novel amphiphile excellent properties including low contact angle and high antistatic property. (C 1 2 N) 2 O showed good compatibility with alcohol ether sulfate (AES) and dodecylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in surfactant mixed systems. When the ratio of (C 12 N) 2 O:AES was 1:4 and (C 12 N) 2 O:LAS 1:9, the emulsifying properties were preferable to single surfactant.