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Title: Determination of surfactant sodium lauryl ether sulfate by ion pairing chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection

Journal Article · · Journal of Liquid Chromatography; (United States)
; ;  [1]
  1. ManTech Environmental Research Services Corp., Ada, OK (United States)

A method for the determination of the anionic Steol CS-330 surfactant is described. CS-330 is a complex mixture of oligomers due to the various sizes of fatty alcohols and the number of moles of the ethoxylation. The main component of CS-330 is sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES). Since a SLES molecule has a hydrophilic sulfate head and a hydrophobic alkyl ethoxyl tail, it is very difficult to separate these molecules with conventional reverse phase chromatography or ion exchange chromatography. This work uses ion pairing chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection. The separation of oligomers in CS-330 is achieved. SLES does not have UV-absorbing chromophores, therefore an optical detector is not very sensitive. Suppressed conductivity detection technique significantly increases sensitivity and a quantitation limit of 56.60 ppm is achieved.

OSTI ID:
6737207
Journal Information:
Journal of Liquid Chromatography; (United States), Vol. 17:19; ISSN 0148-3919
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English