Giuseppe Rosario DEL SORBO

Understanding Viscosity Changes in Oppositely Charged Biopolyelectrolyte-Surfactant Complexes

Mixtures  of  polyelectrolyte  and  surfactants  (PESCs)  are  found  in  a  wide  range  of  industrial applications, from enhanced oil recovery operations to home and personal care products. These mixtures form a  phase  diagram  in  which  solutions  with  excess  of  both  polyelectrolyte  (PE)  and  surfactant are clear and homogenous, while precipitates are formed around charge equilibrium. In this work,  we investigate PESCs  consisting  of  PE  JR  400  (cationic,  cellulose  based polymer)  and  two  different  surfactants,  namely  sodiumoctyl  sulphate  (SOS)  and  sodium tetradecyl sulphate (STS). Because SOS and STS only differ in the length of their alkyl chains, we shad light on the effect of the surfactant tail length on the rheological properties of the solutions.