The effects of the addition of the polyelectrolyte, poly(ethyleneimine), on the adsorption of mixed surfactants of sodium dodecylsulfate and dodecyldimethylaminoacetate at the air-water interface.

The effects of the addition of the polyelectrolyte, poly(ethyleneimine), PEI, on the adsorption of the mixed surfactants of sodium dodecylsulfate, SDS, and dodecyldimethylaminoacetate, dodecyl betaine, at the air-water interface have been investigated using neutron reflectivity and surface tension. In the absence of PEI the SDS and dodecyl betaine surfactants strongly interact and exhibit synergistic adsorption at the air-water interface. The addition of PEI, at pH 7 and 10, results in a significant modification of the surface partitioning of the SDS/dodecyl betaine mixture. The strong surface interaction at high pH (pH 7 and 10) between the PEI and SDS dominates the surface behavior. For solution compositions in the range 20/80-80/20 mol ratio dodecyl betaine/SDS at pH 7 the surface composition is strongly biased towards the SDS. At pH 10 a similar behavior is observed for a solution composition of 50/50 mol ratio dodecyl betaine/SDS. This strong partitioning in favor of the SDS at high pH is attributed to the strong ion-dipole attraction between the SDS sulfate and the PEI imine groups. At pH 3, where the electrostatic interactions between the surfactant and the PEI are dominant, the dodecyl betaine more effectively competes with the SDS for the interface, and the surface composition is much closer to the solution composition.