Interaction between cationic surfactant of 1-methyl-3-tetradecylimidazolium bromide and anionic polymer of sodium polystyrene sulfonate

The interaction between long-chain imidazolium ionic liquid (C14mimBr) and anionic polyelectrolyte of sodium polystyrene sulfonate (NaPSS) has been studied using surface tension, isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC), dynamic light scatting (DLS) and conductance methods. The result shows that the surface tension plots have a pronounced hump in the surface tension at surfactant concentrations below the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of the surfactant. The cooperative adsorption of surfactant and polymer on the surface (PSS) and the formation of polymer/surfactant aggregate in bulk solution (PSM) provide a rational explanation about it. The formation of surfactant/polymer complexes is affected by the concentration of the surfactant or NaPSS, which is also ascertained by ITC and DLS measurements. Further, the thermodynamic parameters are derived from calorimetric titration and conductance curves, and the effects of polymer concentration and temperature on the parameters are evaluated in detail.