Adsorption Behaviour of Ionic and Non-Ionic Surfactants Onto Talc a Naturally Hydrophobic Mineral-a Comparative Study

In present study, the adsorption behaviour of surfactants which are cationic (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, HTAB), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulphate, SDS) and non-ionic (Triton X-100, TX-100) onto naturally hydrophobic talc were investigated. In this scope, a series of batch adsorption tests at natural pH were performed to determine adsorption isotherms and zeta potential (ZP) measurements of the ionic and non-ionic surfactants onto talc surfaces were measured using electrophoresis technique. To understand the mechanism of the adsorption process, the adsorption of ionic and non-ionic surfactants was studied as a function equilibrium concentration (mol/L). The amount of maximum adsorption of the surfactants onto talc are ordered as in the following: TX-100 (9.0x10-5 mol/m2)>HTAB (8.5x10-5 mol/m2) > SDS (5.32x10-5 mol/m2). Even though both the SDS and talc have negative surface charge, SDS can adsorb onto talc. Moreover, a good correlation was seen between the adsorption isotherms and the zeta potential curves. Considering their adsorption isotherms, the ionic surfactants were showed different adsorption behaviour concerning the non-ionic surfactant molecules. The adsorption isotherms of TX-100 and SDS increase rapidly in a narrow concentration range until the plateau region, while such a sharp increase does not appear for HTAB. The maximum adsorption amount of TX-100 and HTAB is greater than SDS. The results indicate that hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding play a decisive role on the adsorption of non-ionic and anionic surfactants onto talc a naturally hydrophobic mineral, whereas electrostatic interaction becomes more important in the adsorption of cationic surfactant.