Synthesis, Characterization, Surface, and Thermodynamic Studies of Alkyl Tetrachloroferrates: Performance Evaluation of Their Nanostructures as Biocides

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/jsde.12349

Decyl and dodecylamino tetrachloroferrates were synthesized and characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The surface properties of the cationic surfactants including critical micelle concentration, effectiveness, minimum surface area, and maximum surface excess were determined using surface tension measurements. The effectiveness of surface tension reduction (π_cmc) was found to increase as the hydrophobic chain length increases with values of 30 and 34 mN m^?1 for C₁₀ and C₁₂, respectively. Moreover, the effect of temperature on micellization was determined over the range of 35–55?°C. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔS°, and ΔH°) were calculated and the results indicate a spontaneous process for both micellization and adsorption. The nanoparticles (NC₁₀ and NC₁₂) of the prepared surfactants were obtained using the ball mill technique. The particle size and morphology of the nanoparticles were determined using transmission electron microscope measurements. The antibacterial study of the nanoparticle surfactants revealed their strong efficiency against fungi and different pathogenic bacteria compared with the original surfactants.

Full text of DOI:10.1002/jsde.12349

J Surfact Deterg (2019)
DOI 10.1002/jsde.12349
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Synthesis, Characterization, Surface, and Thermodynamic
Studies of Alkyl Tetrachloroferrates: Performance Evaluation of
Their Nanostructures as Biocides
Omnia A. A. El-Shamy1 · Amr O. Habib2 · Dalia E. Mohamed1 · Abdelfattah M. Badawi1
Received: 5 March 2019 / Revised: 9 July 2019 / Accepted: 19 August 2019
© 2019 AOCS
Abstract Decyl and dodecylamino tetrachloroferrates
were synthesized and characterized using Fourier-transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis, X-ray
diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR),
and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The surface
properties of the cationic surfactants including critical
micelle concentration, effectiveness, minimum surface area,
and maximum surface excess were determined using sur-
face tension measurements. The effectiveness of surface
tension reduction (πcmc) was found to increase as the
hydrophobic chain length increases with values of 30 and
34 mN m−1 for C10 and C12, respectively. Moreover, the
effect of temperature on micellization was determined over
the range of 35–55 ꢀC. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔGꢀ,
ΔSꢀ, and ΔHꢀ) were calculated and the results indicate a
spontaneous process for both micellization and adsorption.
The nanoparticles (NC10 and NC12) of the prepared surfac-
tants were obtained using the ball mill technique. The parti-
cle size and morphology of the nanoparticles were
determined using transmission electron microscope mea-
surements. The antibacterial study of the nanoparticle sur-
factants revealed their strong efficiency against fungi and
different pathogenic bacteria compared with the original
surfactants.
Keywords Quaternary surfactants ꢁ Surface activity ꢁ
Thermodynamic parameters ꢁ Nanostructures ꢁ
Antimicrobial activity
J Surfact Deterg (2019).
Introduction
Surfactants are one of the most important classes of
chemicals in colloid and interface science, due to their
capability to reduce surface/interfacial tensions and to
self-assemble as micelles (Rosen and Kunjappu, 2012).
These are amphiphilic compounds comprising hydrophilic
head (water-soluble part) and lipophilic tail (oil-soluble
part). This dual nature gives them two distinctive charac-
teristics: (i) adsorption; which explains the distinct appli-
cations of surfactants (Eastoe and Tabor, 2014; El Feky
et al., 2010; Khidr et al., 2015), (ii) self-assembly in
solution; which promotes the development of nanoscale
structures from biological cells to micelles and micro-
emulsions (Berti and Palazzo, 2014). Therefore, surfac-
tants applied in nanotechnology and related processes
such as stabilizers, growth control agents, templates, and
modifiers (Garcıa et al., 2000).
Supporting information Additional supporting information may be
found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the
article.
The number of bacteria with resistance to antibacterial
agents has grown over the past decade. Along these lines, it
is important to incorporate new compounds that have a
microbicide impact (Gaze et al., 2005; Ishikawa et al.,
2002; Kourai et al., 2006). Cationic surfactants particularly
quaternary ammonium salts are less toxic to human/animals
and are utilized in different applications such as biotrans-
formation (Chanawanno et al., 2010). The role of quater-
nary surfactants as antimicrobial agents can be summarized
* Omnia A. A. Elshamy
omniaelshamy@yahoo.com
1
Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, 11727, Nasr City, Cairo,
Egypt
2
Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
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by increasing the permeability of the cell wall of these
microorganisms. This causes great harm to the biological
balance of the cytoplasm consequently driving to death.
Besides, the adsorption of molecules at the cell membrane
increases the hydrophobicity of that membrane leading to
an increase in its permeability toward the media compo-
nents. This causes modifications in the biochemical reac-
tions inside the cell cytoplasm (Tezel, 2009).
hydrochlorides with FeCl3 (1:1) in ethanol for 2 h was car-
ried out at 75 ꢀC. Brown and yellowish brown precipitates
for decylamino tetrachloroferrate C10 and dodecylamino
tetrachloroferrate C12, respectively, were obtained and
washed with ethanol several times. The C10 and C12 reac-
tions are shown in Eqs. (1) and (2):
CH3ðCH2ÞnNH2 + HCl ! CH3ðCH2ÞnN+ H3Cl−
ð1Þ
CH3ðCH2ÞnN+ H3Cl− + FeCl3 ! CH3ðCH2ÞnN+ H3:FeCl4
−
Nanochemistry is a significant development in nanoscience
that bridges the gap between bulk materials and molecular/
atomic structures. Nanopowders are solid particles utilized in
various applications like ecology, biotechnology, biomedical
chemistry, pharmaceutical field, and atomic positioning
(Dunkley, 2004; El-Fawal and El-Shamy, 2019; Fraise
et al., 2008).
ð2Þ
where n = 9 in the case of decylamino tetrachloroferrate
and n = 11 in the case of dodecylamino tetrachloroferrate.
The nanopowder form of the synthesized surfactants
(NC10 and NC12) was obtained using a Type PM 400 ball
mill (RETSCH Planetary) at 200 rpm for 8 h.
In this work, two quaternary surfactants (decyl amino
and dodecyl amino tetrachloroferrate, C10 and C12, respec-
tively) are prepared and their chemical structure is reported.
The surface activity and thermodynamic parameters at dif-
ferent temperatures were determined. In addition, the nano-
powders (NC10 and NC12) are obtained from the previously
prepared surfactants (parent) using the ball mill technique.
The parent surfactants and their nanostructures were evalu-
ated as new potential biocides against pathogenic Gram-
positive “Bacillus pumilus, Micrococcus luteus, and
Sarcina lutea” and Gram-negative “Escherichia coli and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa” bacteria, Yeast “Candida
albicans,” and some pathogenic fungi “Penicillium
chrysogenum.” The antimicrobial efficiency of the synthe-
sized quaternary surfactants and their nanopowders is
included as the inhibition zone diameter “mm mg−1 sam-
ple” in comparison to Metronidazole for fungus and yeast,
and Erythromycin for bacteria as standard drugs.
Characterization
Elemental analysis of the prepared surfactants was done
using a Vario MACRO Cube (Elementar, Hanau, Ger-
many). A Zeenit 700 P atomic absorption spectrometer
(Analytic Jena, Thuringia, Germany) equipped with single-
element hollow cathode lamp as a radiation source was
used to detect the iron percentage in the prepared surfac-
tants. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) (KBr) spectra were
recorded using a by ATI Mattson Genesis at an incidence
angle of 80ꢀ relative to the normal surface and 2 cm−1 reso-
1
lution. H-NMR spectra of the compounds under examina-
tion were recorded in DMSO at 500 MHz using a Jeol
ECA 500 MHz NMR spectrometer. X-ray diffraction
(XRD) spectroscopy (PANalytical X’Pert PRO MPD,
Netherland) was used to characterize the crystal structure of
the prepared surfactants. The XRD instrument was
equipped with a Cu anode (λ = 0.154,06 nm) at a rate of
40 kV with a scan step time of 0.7 s. A small droplet of the
good dispersed sample was placed separately on copper
grids, which was precovered by a thin carbon film. A pho-
tographic plate of the TEM “JEOL JEM-1230” equipped
with a CCD camera was used to detect the morphology and
size of NC10 and NC12 operated at 120 kV.
Experimental Section
Materials
Dodecyl amine and ferric chloride hexahydrate were
obtained from Acros Organics (Geel, Belgium). Decyl
amine was obtained from MP Biomedical (Eschwege, Ger-
many). Ethanol and acetone were purchased from ADWIC
(Qaliubiya, Egypt). All chemicals were used without fur-
ther purification.
Surface Tension Measurements
The surface tension of the synthesized quaternary surfactants
was measured using a K6 tensiometer (Kr`u`ss, Germany)
equipped with a Platinum-Iridium DuNouy ring at different
temperatures (35, 45, and 55ꢀC). Distilled water with a sur-
face tension of 70 mN m−1 at 35 ꢀC was used to prepare all
concentrations (2.5 × 10−2 to 0.25 mmol L−1). The ring was
cleaned carefully using distilled water and acetone between
the measurements.
Synthesis of the Quaternary Surfactants
The two quaternary surfactants were prepared by mixing
equal ratios (1:1) of each of decyl amine and dodecyl amine
with HCl separately, giving a white precipitate of amine
hydrochlorides. Reflux of the obtained amine
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Table 1 Observed elemental analysis and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) for C10 and C12
Compounds
%C
%H
%N
%Fe
Calc.
Obs.
Calc.
Obs.
Calc.
Obs.
Calc.
Obs.
C10
C12
33.70
37.50
33.41
37.21
6.74
7.29
6.42
7.11
3.93
3.64
3.89
3.57
15.73
14.58
15.63
14.41
Antimicrobial Activities
were inoculated with different microorganisms and incu-
bated at 30 ꢀC for 24 and 48 h in the case of bacteria and
the yeast, respectively, while fungi were incubated at 28 ꢀC
for 48 h (Fox et al., 1990).
The antimicrobial activities of C10, C12, NC10, and NC12
were evaluated at the Biotechnology Laboratory of Egyp-
tian Petroleum Research Institute using the diffusion disc
method against different bacteria, fungi, and yeast. E. coli
and P. aeruginosa were tested as Gram-negative bacteria,
B. pumilus, M. luteus, and S. lutea as Gram-positive bacte-
ria, while the fungicidal activity was evaluated against
P. chrysogenum as Filamentous Fungus and Yeast
(C. albicans). The bacterial species grow on nutrient agar,
fungi mold grows on Czapek’s dox agar while the yeast
grows on Wickerham medium. For Bacteria: The nutrient
agar medium consists of 3 g L−1 of beef extract, peptone
(5 g L−1), NaCl, and 20 g L−1 agar, and the volume of the
medium was then made to one liter using bidistilled water.
The mixture was heated until boiling, and the media were
sterilized by autoclave. For fungi: The dox agar medium
consists of 30 g L−1 sucrose, sodium nitrate (3 g L−1),
0.5 g L−1 of MgSO4, KCl (0.5 g L−1), FeSO4 (0.01 g L−1),
dipotassium hydrogen orthophosphate (1 g L−1), and
20 g L−1 agar was then made to a volume to 1 L. The mix-
ture was boiled and sterilized as mention before. For yeast,
the medium consists of an equal weight of a yeast extract
and malt extract (3 g L−1), 10 g L−1 of glucose and peptone
(5 g L−1). The nutrient agar, Dox media, and yeast media
Results and Discussion
Characterization
The theoretical and experimental percentage of C, H, and N
for C10 and C12 is listed in Table 1. The iron percentage of
the prepared molecules obtained from atomic absorption
spectroscopy measurements. The data revealed that the
observed results are strongly agreeing with the
calculated ones.
Figures 1 and S1 show the absorption bands of 2925 &
2855 cm−1 and 2926 & 2855 cm−1 caused by C-Hst. of C10
and C12, respectively. The peak appearing at 1468 cm−1 is
attributed to C-Hdef. Also, the peak appearing at 3237 cm−1
is attributed to the ammonium ion in RN+H3. Peaks appe-
aring at 1618 and 1619 cm−1 are attributed to N–H bend of
C10 and C12, respectively. Moreover, iron complexation
bond appears at 620 and 623 cm−1 of C10 and C12, respec-
tively (Javidparvar et al., 2016).
85
80
75
70
1468
620
2855
65
60
55
50
45
40
1618
2925
3237
3600
2800
2000
1200
400
Wave number (cm-1)
Fig. 1 FTIR spectrum of decylaminotetrachloroferrate (C10
)
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the [CH2-(CH2)n] group, δ = (2.48 & 2.46) ppm for the
[CH2CH2-N+] group, δ = (3.42 & 3.69) ppm for the [N+-
CH2] group, and δ = 7.82 ppm for the [N+H3] group.
Figure
3 shows the XRD patterns of C10, the
diffractogram exhibits different distinct diffraction peaks at
2θ values of 8.4ꢀ, 15.9ꢀ, 20ꢀ, 24ꢀ, 28.1ꢀ, and 34.6ꢀ con-
firming the presence of iron in the prepared surfactants and
are matched to other tetrachloroferrate derivatives in other
work (Khazaei et al., 2018). XRD patterns of C12 have the
nearest diffraction peaks and are present in Fig. S2.
Figure 4a, b shows the TEM micrograph of NC10 and
NC12, respectively. In Fig. 4a, the particle size ranged
between 7.92 and 19.22 nm for NC10, while in Fig. 4b, the
size ranged between 16.63 and 18.84 nm for NC12. The
agglomeration of the prepared nanoparticles (Fig. 4) is due
to van der Waals force and the high surface energy caused
by the presence of iron. Moreover, in solution nanoparticles
tend to minimize its interface by agglomeration. (Kocjan
et al., 2017; Alia et al., 2016).
Fig. 2 1H-NMR spectrum of decylaminotetrachloroferrate (C10
)
Critical Micelle Concentration
Critical micelle concentration (CMC) is defined as the
concentration above which surfactant molecules tend to
aggregate and form micelles. The variation in surface ten-
sion (γ) of the prepared molecules (C10 and C12) is plotted
versus log concentration as shown in Fig. 5 and the values
of CMC at 35, 45, and 55 ꢀC are listed in Table 2. It is
obvious that, for the two prepared surfactants, the CMC
values decreased by increasing the hydrophobic chain
length (Shapovalov and Ponomariov, 2019; Shrestha and
Yan, 2014). This indicates an increase in the
Fig. 3 XRD spectrum of decylaminotetrachloroferrate (C10
)
1H-NMR spectra of C12 (Fig. 2) and C10 compounds show
δ = (0.6 & 0.63) ppm for the [CH3] group, then δ = (1.00 &
1.02) ppm for [(CH2)n] groups, δ = (1.29 & 1.31) ppm for
Fig. 4 TEM images of (a) C10 and (b) C12
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(a)
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
35°C
45°C
55°C
–3.5
–3
–2.5
–2
–1.5
–1
–0.5
0
log C (mol L−1)
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
(b)
35°C
45°C
55°C
–3.5
–3
–2.5
–2
–1.5
–1
–0.5
0
log C (mol L−1)
Fig. 5 The surface tension versus log C: (a) C10 and (b) C12
ꢀ
hydrophobicity of the surfactant molecules, which results
in an increase in the repulsion between the hydrophobic
chain and water molecules so that the surfactants tend to
aggregate at a lower concentration (El Feky et al., 2016;
Sun et al., 2013).
Also, the CMC values decrease upon increasing the tem-
perature. This behavior of temperature increase causes a
decrease in hydration of the hydrophilic group, which
favors micellization. It seems from the data in Table 2 that
an increase from C10 to C12 in the hydrophobicity made the
surfactant more surface active.
concentration (γCMC) and that of pure water (γ ) at a given
temperature (Hafiz et al., 2010). There is no much variation
in the surface tension with the surfactant concentration
above the CMC.
πcmc = γo −γcmc
ð3Þ
The values of effectiveness corresponding to the pre-
pared surfactants are calculated using Eq. (3) (Rosen and
Kunjappu, 2012) and are listed in Table 2. The effective-
ness values looked to be an agreeable variable comparing
two surfactants in the same series. The more effective sur-
factant is that which gives a better reduction of the surface
tension at its CMC. Concerning the values of πcmc in
Table 2, it observed that C12 accomplished a higher πcmc
value. These differences in effectiveness in the prepared
compounds were attributed to the difference in their
Effectiveness (πCMC
)
The effectiveness of a surfactant solution defined as the dif-
ference between the surface tension at the critical micelle
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Table 2 Surface parameters of the investigated surfactants at different temperatures
Surfactant
C10
Temp. (ꢀC)
CMC × 102 (mol L−1
)
πCMC (mN m−1
)
Γ
max × 1010 (mol cm−2
)
Amin (nm2)
35
45
55
35
45
55
0.89
0.79
0.72
0.78
0.74
0.70
30.00
29.50
29.00
34.00
33.50
32.00
4.12
4.22
4.04
4.00
4.63
3.75
0.40
0.39
0.41
0.41
0.36
0.44
C12
lipophilicity. Increasing the lipophilic chain length along
C10 and C12 increases the effectiveness.
Thermodynamic Parameters
Thermodynamic parameters for micellization and adsorp-
tion of the synthesized surfactant molecules were calculated
at 35, 45, and 55 ꢀC using Gibbs’ equations (Eqs. (6)–(11))
(Zdziennicka et al., 2012). For micellization,
Maximum Surface Excess (Γmax) and Minimum Surface
Area (Amin
)
ΔGꢀðmicÞ = RTlnCMC
ð6Þ
ð7Þ
Γ
max is the number of surfactant molecules located in a unit
!
area at the air/water interface. It calculated from the Gibbs
equation (Rosen and Kunjappu, 2012):
ΔGꢀðmicÞ
−ΔSꢀðmicÞ = d
ΔT
ꢀ
ꢁ
1
∂γ
Γ
max = −
ð4Þ
2:303nRT ∂logC
T
ΔHðꢀmicÞ = ΔGðꢀmicÞ + TΔSꢀðmicÞ
ð8Þ
where Γmax is the maximum surface excess concentration,
R is the universal gas constant, and T is the absolute tem-
perature. The values of Γmax listed in Table 2 suggest that
as the lipophilicity of the synthesized surfactant increases
Γmax values increase. This indicates that the surfactants are
tightly packed at the A/W interface (Aydogan and
Abbott, 2001).
For adsorption,
ΔGꢀðadsÞ = ΔGðꢀmicÞ −6:023 × 10−1 × πCMC × Amin
ð9Þ
!
ΔGꢀðadsÞ
ΔT
−ΔSꢀðadsÞ = d
ð10Þ
From the results of Γmax for the prepared surfactants listed
in Table 2, it was concluded that increasing the alkyl chain
from 10 to 12 carbon atoms leads to the adsorption of the sur-
factant at low concentrations, which shifts the Γmax value to
lower values. On the other hand, as the temperature increases
from 35 to 45 ꢀC, the number of surfactant molecules adsorbed
at the interface increases, thus the Γmax value increases.
Minimum surface area (Amin) is the average area occu-
pied per adsorbed molecule at the interface given by
(Rosen and Kunjappu, 2012):
ΔHðꢀadsÞ = ΔGðꢀadsÞ + TΔSꢀðadsÞ
ð11Þ
The standard free energies of micellization (ΔGꢀðmicÞ) and
adsorption (ΔGꢀðadsÞ) are negative indicating spontaneous
processes (El-Shamy and Nessim, 2017). The prepared sur-
factants have a higher tendency to adsorb at the interface
than forming micelles (ΔGꢀðadsÞ > ΔGðꢀmicÞ). Also, it was
noticed that ΔGꢀðmicÞ becomes more negative as the temper-
ature increases, hence favoring micellization. The standard
entropy changes of micellization (ΔSꢀðmicÞ) showed decrease
1014
Amin
=
ð5Þ
NAΓmax
where NA is the Avogadro’s number and Γmax (mol cm−2
than those of adsorption (ΔSꢀðadsÞ) for the prepared surfac-
)
tants (Table 3), indicating the lower ordering of the
adsorbed molecules rather than molecules in the
micellization state. This is attributed to the compacting of
the hydrophobic chain within the micelles, which leads to a
great extent of ordering of the molecules (Desai and Banat,
1997). Positive values of ΔHꢀðmicÞ indicate the endothermic
is the maximum surface excess of adsorbed molecules at
the interface. Decreasing Γmax indicates a smaller number
of the adsorbed surfactant molecules at the A/W interface.
Hence, the area available for each molecule at the interface
will increase, and this is an expected behavior. It is clear
from Table 2 that increasing the hydrophobicity increases
the value of Amin
.
micellization process. The change of the standard heat
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Table 3 Thermodynamic parameters of micellization and adsorption of the investigated surfactants at different temperatures
Surfactant
Temp. (ꢀC)
ΔGꢀ (kJ mol−1
)
ΔSꢀ (kJ (mol K)−1
)
ΔHꢀ (kJ mol−1
)
Mic.
Ads.
Mic.
Ads.
Mic.
Ads.
C10
35
45
55
35
45
55
−12.09
−13.00
−13.45
−12.43
−12.98
−13.53
−12.10
−13.01
−13.46
−12.43
−12.98
−13.54
—
0.068
—
—
0.070
—
8.85
8.62
8.85
4.78
4.84
4.83
9.46
9.25
9.50
4.50
4.51
4.50
C12
—
—
0.056
—
0.055
—
enthalpy of micellization ΔHꢀðmicÞ is inversely proportional
to the alkyl chain.
From a thermodynamic aspect, C12 has a higher ten-
dency for adsorption than C10. Moreover, C12 has a higher
negative value of free energy of micellization that facili-
tates the solubilization of the bacterial cell (hydrophobic
components) on the micelle core.
Antimicrobial Activity of the Synthesized Quaternary
Surfactants
The data listed in Table 4 showed that the antibacterial
activities of nanopowder forms (NC10 and NC12) are higher
than their parent surfactants. This may be attributed to their
small particle size, which facilitates permeability of these
nanomolecules through the cell membrane. Intermediate
size between the parent C12 and NC12 was obtained for
dodecylamino tetrachloroferrate and abbreviated as MC12,
which was obtained after ball milling of 4 h (200 rpm) to
evaluate the effect of particle size on its antimicrobial activ-
ity using the same agar diffusion technique. The results
listed in Table 5 show that in the case of yeast, MC12 has
the most inhibition efficiency. While, in the case of Gram-
negative bacteria, this intermediate size (MC12) gives inter-
mediate results between parent and nanoparticles. So, small
particle size is recommended. In the case of Gram-positive
bacteria, the inhibition efficiency of MC12 decreases line-
arly with the particle size (Table 4). In addition, after using
different Gram-positive species (Table 5), the inhibition
efficiency of dodecylamino tetrachloroferrate on Gram-
negative species is higher than that of positive species. This
may be explained by the difference in the cell wall width
The data listed in Table 4 show that C10, C12, NC10, and
NC12 have a significant antimicrobial activity toward all
the tested organisms. The inhibition zone diameter of the
tested species increases as the hydrophobicity increases
from C10 to C12. The external surface of the bacteria carries
a net negative charge that is neutralized by divalent cations
Mg(II) and Ca(II) (Gilbert and Moore, 2005; Shaban et al.,
2014). This links with the teichoic acid and polysaccharide
parts of Gram-positive bacteria and the lipopolysaccharide
of Gram-negative bacteria, and the cytoplasmic membrane
itself. According to the last description, cationic antimicro-
bial agents possess high ability to join the cell membrane
of bacteria (Aiad et al., 2016; Walsh and Amyes, 2004).
The studied surfactants (C10, C12, NC10, and NC12) carried
net positive charge on the nitrogen atom with different
hydrophobic chain lengths (normal alkyl chains) in order to
study the hydrophobic effect on the interaction with the cell
membrane. The cationic surfactants interacted with the cell
wall substituting for the divalent cations.
Table 4 Antimicrobial activity of the synthesized surfactants and their nanopowders against different pathogenic bacteria and fungi
Compounds
Inhibition zone diameter (mm)
Gram-negative
Gram-positive
Yeast
Fungi
Bacillus
pumilus
Micrococcus
luteus
Sarcinalutea
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
Escherichia
Candida
albicans
Penicilliumchrysogenum
coli
Erythromycin
Metronidazole
C10
32
—
21
28
26
21
32
—
32
45
41
40
44
—
36
34
33
36
30
—
24
22
23
26
32
—
27
25
37
50
35
—
25
28
31
33
32
33
37
51
31
C12
NC10
NC12
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Table 5 Antimicrobial activity of MC12 against different pathogenic bacteria and fungi
Compounds
Inhibition zone diameter (mm)
Gram-negative
Pseudomonas
Gram-positive
Staphylococcus
Yeast
Fungi
Bacillus
subtilis
Escherichia
coli
Candida
albicans
Aspergillus
niger
aureus
aeruginosa
Erythromycin
Metronidazole
MC12
29
—
35
28
—
36
28
—
25
30
26
—
27
39
—
30
41
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Conclusions
Two cationic surfactants were prepared and characterized
using different techniques. The surface activity of the two
prepared surfactants increases with the hydrophobicity.
Thermodynamic parameters of adsorption and micellization
were calculated. The free energy of micellization and
adsorption indicate that C12 has a higher tendency for
micellization and adsorption rather than C10. The powder
form of the two surfactants was obtained using the ball mill
technique. The biological activity of the prepared surfac-
tants was investigated in addition to their nanosize. C12 has
good microbial activity compared with C10, while NC10
showed very excellent biological activity against fungi,
yeast, Gram-negative, and Gram-positive bacteria. These
results indicate that small particle size of NC10 facilitates
the permeability of the nanopowders through the cell
membranes.
El-Fawal, E. M., & El-Shamy, O. A. A. (2019) Photodegradation
enhancement
of
2-chlorophenol
using
ZnO–CdS@CS
nanocomposite under visible light. International Journal of Envi-
ronmental Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/
s13762-019-02249-y
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Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict
of interest.
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