Unique solution properties of quaternized oligomeric surfactants derived from ethylenediamine or G0 poly (amidoamine) dendrimers.

New quaternized oligomeric surfactants containing 4 or 8 alkyl chains were synthesized using ethylenediamine or poly(amidoamine) dendrimers as the central scaffold. Electrical conductivity, surface tension, and pyrene fluorescence measurements, as well as dynamic light scattering were used to characterize their properties. In addition, the dependence of these properties on the alkyl chain length, number of chains, and dendrimer generation was determined through comparison with previously reported oligomeric surfactants. The relation between surface tension and concentration for the oligomeric surfactants exhibited clear breakpoints, which reflect the critical micelle concentration (cmc). Both cmc and surface tension were lower than those of monomeric alkyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactants, indicating that the synthesized oligomeric surfactants have excellent micelle-forming ability in solution and high adsorption ability at the air/water interface, in spite of the large bulky structure containing multiple alkyl chains and headgroups within one molecule. When the alkyl chain length or the number of chains of the oligomeric surfactants was increased, a unique behavior was observed in that adsorption at the air/water interface and solution aggregation occurred simultaneously at a concentration below cmc (as determined by the surface tension method). This suggests that aggregate formation occurs readily in solution along with the adsorption at the interface because of strong attractive interactions between multiple alkyl chains.