Effects of Structure on the Properties of Pseudononionic Complexes of Anionic and Cationic Surfactants

Soluble anionic/cationic surfactant complexes can be formed from anionic and cationic surfactants either or both of which have hydrophilic group in addition to their charged heads. These complexes exhibit properties that are more similar to nonionic surfactants than to their ionic components. For example they exhibit cloud point phenomena and have low critical micelle concentration. In addition, the area of the hydrophilic group was much less than the sum of the areas of the anionic and cationic surfactant components.