Study of the Synthesis and Interfacial Properties of Nonylphenol Polyoxypropylene Ether Sulfates/Sulfonates

Abstract:In this paper, a series of nonylphenol polyoxypropylene ethers(NPP-n) that the number of propylene oxide(PO) is 3, 5, 7, 9 have been synthesized by using nonylphenol as raw material and a base as catalyst, which provides a narrow distribution as to the preferred mole adducts. By means of controling reaction conditions and selecting suitable sulfonating agents, 4 nonylphenol polyoxypropylene ether sulfate esters (NPPS-n) and 4 nonylphenol polyoxypropylene ether sulfonic acids (NPPSO-n) have been synthesised, with yields all up to 90%. After neutralization with sodium hydroxide solution and purification, the purity of 4 sodium nonylphenol polyoxypropylene ether sulfates (NPPSNa-n) and 4 sodium nonylphenol polyoxypropylene ether sulfonates (NPPSONa-n) is all higher than 95%. In addition, the structures of 4 NPPSNa-n and 4 NPPSONa-n are characterized by IR spectra, ¹H-NMR and so on. Furthermore, thermal resistant, salt-tolerant and interfacial properties of the above-mentioned 8 surfactants have been analyzed and compared.