Study on the structure-activity relationship between the molecular structure of sulfate gemini surfactant and surface activity, thermodynamic properties and foam properties

Abstract In this article, a series of sulfate Gemini surfactants with different lengths of hydrophobic tail chains and spacer groups were synthesized. Both 1H NMR spectra and mass spectrometry analysis verified that the synthesized products were sulfate Gemini surfactants. Krafft temperatures indicated that they showed better water solubility at low temperatures. The conductivity of the sulfate Gemini surfactant versus concentration under different temperature conditions was tested. The influence of the hydrophobic tail chain, spacer group, and temperature on the critical micelle concentration and micelle thermodynamic parameters were revealed. The structure–activity relationship between the molecular structure and the foaming performance was discussed. Finally, we studied the influence of temperature on the foaming performance, foam stabilization, and rheological properties of the foam system. The insights gained from this study may enrich theoretical research on sulfate Gemini surfactants and promote the applications of sulfate Gemini surfactants in various fields.