Ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose–sodium dodecanoate interaction investigated by surface tension and electrical conductivity techniques

Mixtures of ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose (EHEC) and sodium dodecanoate (SDoD) were investigated using surface tension, conductivity and transmittance measurements. The parameters of the surfactant to polymer association processes such as the critical aggregation concentration (cac) and saturation of the polymer by SDoD (psp) were determined from the plots of surface tension and specific conductivity versus surfactant concentration. The transmittance versus [SDoD] profiles exhibited bands that, in conjunction with conductivity and surface tension data, gave support to the explanation of the behavior of EHEC–SDoD–water solutions. Transmittance bands determined in the presence of EHEC and surfactant are sensitive to the process of surfactant to polymer binding. In this process, a discontinuity point represented by a second broader peak in the transmittance plots was identified, implying a slight inhibition of the breakdown of the network process. This is explained as a kind of intermediate re-structural network of the complexes produced by the formation of regular SDoD micelles. It was demonstrated that the second conductivity breakpoint marks the polymer saturation by surfactant clusters, and the effect of the EHEC concentration on the process of binding can be described by a linear correlation when the psp breakpoint is plotted against the polymer concentration.