Experimental Study on Foam Properties of Mixed Systems of Silicone and Hydrocarbon Surfactants

Silicone surfactants are inevitably involved in industrial applications in combination with hydrocarbon surfactants, but properties of the mixtures of silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants have received little attention, especially foam properties of the mixtures. In this study, aqueous solutions of respective binary mixtures of a nonionic silicone surfactant with anionic, cationic, and nonionic hydrocarbon surfactants were prepared for evaluation of their foam properties. Surface tension of aqueous solutions of the mixtures were measured with the maximum bubble pressure method. Foaming ability and foam stability of the mixtures were then evaluated with the standard Ross-Miles method. The findings show that the addition of the silicone surfactant results in a decrease in surface tension for aqueous solutions of the hydrocarbon surfactants. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the hydrocarbon surfactants is also changed by the additive silicone surfactant. Additionally, clear foam synergistic effects were observed in the mixtures of silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants, regardless of the ionic types of the hydrocarbon surfactant. The foam stability of the hydrocarbon surfactant was shown to generally improve with the increasing concentration of the silicone surfactant. Even so, aqueous solutions of different ionic hydrocarbon surfactants in the presence of the silicone surfactant will give different foam stabilities. The results of the present study are meant to provide guidance for the practical application of foams generated by the mixtures of the silicone and hydrocarbon surfactants.