Effects of static magnetic field on the surface tension of surfactant solutions

The magnetic field (MF) effects resulting from water or solution treatments are still of significant interest. However, a relatively small number of papers have been published dealing with the pure surfactant solutions alone. On the other hand, surfactants are applied in many industrial processes as well as in everyday life and are also present in different waste waters. Therefore, it seemed interesting to investigate whether some effects would appear after the MF treatment of pure aqueous surfactant solutions. In the earlier published papers after MF action the changes in water evaporation rate and the surface tension were found for both the cationic dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions. The gradient MF originated from three connected ring magnets inside which the solutions were placed. The objective of this paper is to study whether using the same magnets but in a different position the effects of the MF are observed. The given surfactant solution in a closed vessel was placed in an uniform MF when the magnets were in the lying position. The investigated solutions on the magnet surface remained for 24 h. In this paper, despite SDS and DTAB also the cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and nonionic Triton X-100 solutions were applied. It appeared that in the uniform MF the surface tension of cationic and anionic surfactant solutions changes. However, larger changes were observed in the gradient MF. Generally, the changes of surface tension depend on the surfactant kind and its concentration. Stronger MF influence was found for the cationic surfactant and almost no changes were observed for nonionic Triton X-100.

Automated summary

The effects of magnetic field treatment on water or solution are still of interest, but there have been relatively few studies on pure surfactant solutions. This study investigated the effects of magnetic field treatment on pure aqueous surfactant solutions, including cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants. The results showed that both uniform and gradient magnetic fields can cause changes in surface tension, with the effects being stronger in the gradient field. The specific changes in surface tension depend on the type and concentration of surfactant.