Polymeric surfactants for enhanced oil recovery. Part I—critical micelle concentration of some ethoxylated alkylphenol—formaldehyde nonionics

Four low molecular weight nonionic polymeric surfactants were prepared by condensing octyl-, dodecyl-, tetradecyl- and hexadecylphenol with para-formaldehyde, and then reacting the resulting resins with ethylene oxide to obtain products with the desired degree of ethoxylation. The molecular weights of the prepared alkylphenol-formaldehyde resins (prior to ethoxylation) were determined by vapour pressure osmometry. The surface tensions of aqueous solutions of these nonionic polymeric surfactants were determined by using the spinning drop method. Plotting the surface tensions obtained versus the logarithm of concentrations resulted in two lines: the pre-CMC (CMC = critical micelle concentration) line (the linear portion below the CMC value) and the post-CMC line (the linear portion above the CMC value). Least squares regression analysis was performed to get the best equation for each of the two lines. Solving these two equations simultaneously resulted in the value of the CMC and the corresponding surface tension (γ_CMC) for each surfactant of the four polymeric nonionic groups. The CMC values obtained for these polymeric surfactants are of the same order of magnitude obtained for monomeric and other polymeric nonionic surfactants.