Mercury

The effect of the structure of
surface active agent on bio-degradation
1) Cationic surfactant
The bio-degradation of cationic surfactant requires
aerobic conditions. The order of the ability of being biodegraded
of three types of alkylbenzene sulfonates (ABS)
with different structures of hydrophobic groups is as follows:
Linear ABS (LAS)>ABS substituted by a branch-chain at the
end of the group>trimethy ABS
As for those cationic surfactants difficult being degraded, we
can prepare them together with other types of surface active
agents in order to raise its bio-degradation. e.g. trimethyl
dodecyl ammonium chloride ( 三 甲 基 十 二 烷 基 氯 化 铵 )
couldnot be degraded even in 27h while it can be easily
degraded once being mixed with LAS at the radio of 1:1.