Tezislər / Theses

 
 
STUDY OF SURFACTANTS BASED ON NONYLAMINE AND 
MONOCARBOXYLIC ACIDS 
Arzu Abdullayeva 
Baku Higher Oil School 
Baku, Azerbaijan 
[e-mail] 
Supervisor: Sevda Zargarova 
Keywords: 
surfactants, surface tension, concentration 
Surface active agents are chemical which reduce the surface/interfacial 
tension between the liquids, between a gas and a liquid and between a liquid 
and a solid. They are widely used in health and personal care products such 
as detergents, fabric softeners, in the food industry, protection of crops, 
pharmaceuticals and so on. Human civilization has experienced numerous 
global issues including global pollution; and aquatic pollution caused by 
petroleum production or leakages is among these significant concerns. 
Cleaning of these spillages is one of the major application areas of 
surfactants [1].

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THE 3
rd
 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES OF STUDENTS AND YOUNG RESEARCHERS 
dedicated to the 99
th
anniversary of the National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev
331
Since surfactants are amphiphilic materials with hydrophobic and 
hydrophilic parts, they absorb at the interface of oil-water. Surfactants are 
usually categorized according to their polar head as the hydrophobic tails are 
usually similar. Non-ionic surfactant has an uncharged head group while 
anionic and cationic surfactants have negative and positive head groups, 
accordingly. Due to the placement of surfactant molecules at the oil-water 
interfaces, the interfacial surface tension is reduced which causes the oil to 
dilute in water [2]. As a result, an increase in the interfacial surface area 
between oil and water leads to oil degradation. 
In this research, surfactants obtained from carboxylic acids and amines, 
changes in their surface tensions according to the concentrations of 
surfactants are studied. 
Results
. As reactants, nonylamine (C
9
H
17
NH
2
), acetic acid (CH
3
COOH) 
and formic acid (HCOOH) are used. Both reactions occur at 50-60
o
C and 
atmospheric pressure. The products of the reactions are the salt of 
nonylamine and formic acid and the salt of nonylamine and acetic acid, 
respectively.
𝐶 𝐻 − 𝑁𝐻 + 𝐻𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐻 → 𝐶 𝐻 − 𝑁𝐻 𝑂 𝑂𝐶𝐻
𝐶 𝐻 − 𝑁𝐻 + 𝐶𝐻 𝐶𝑂𝑂𝐻 → 𝐶 𝐻 − 𝑁𝐻 𝑂 𝑂𝐶𝐶𝐻
Sigma Tensiometer was used to determine the surface tensions of the 
products to prove that obtained products are surfactants. In this research, 
surfactants gained from carboxylic acids and amines, changes in their 
surface tensions according to the concentrations of surfactants are studied 
and illustrated in the given figures below.