A Simple and Rapid Method for the Detection of Non-Ionic Surfactants

Abstract

A spectrophotometric approach for the detection of non-ionic surfactant (Triton X-100) has been proposed in this paper. This method does not involve extraction of the ion-associate with harmful solvents, but employs adhesion of the ion-association of potassium/non-ionic surfactants complex and tetraphenylporphyrin tetrasulfonic acid obtained by vigorous shaking. The adhered ion-associate was dissolved with water and its absorbance was measured. The sensitivity for Triton X-100 was determined to be 0.146 (expressed as absorbance of 1 mg/L solution). The adhesion tendency of ion-associate was found to be dependent on the water contact angle, which in turn was influenced by a high adhesion of the ion-associate and by low blank values. In this respect, a tetrafluo-roethylene vessel was found to be the most suitable for the detection of non-ionic surfactants. This spectrophotometrical method is simply and rapidly performed by a procedure based on mechanical shaking and can be employed to detect non-ionic surfactants containing more than 7 polyethylene oxide units.