New Colloidal Systems with Practical Ramifications

摘要

This Final Report begins with a description of two catalysts and one microemulsion that are effective decontamination systems for mustard and nerve agent simulants. It then describes new ester-modified surfactants synthesized in the hopes that they would provide enhanced solublilization power. In the process, a comparison was made between contiguous and segmented hydrophobicity, the first such comparison of its kind. Surfactants were found to differ in their cmc, foaming, area of occupancy at the air/water interface, and solid- adsorption and solublization power depending on the location of the ester groups within the chains. Finally, the first cryo-etch-high resolution scanning electron microscopy study of aqueous saline was carried out to learn how salt is excluded from frozen water.