Abstract
This manuscript reviews the recent studies in the characterization of the adsorption feature of surfactant type fabric softener on the surfaces of textile fibers. The surfactant type fabric softeners work by coating the surfaces of the textile fibers with very thin film, which have lubricant properties and electrical conductivity. The double-chain cationic surfactant (dioctadecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride ; DODAC), is mainly used as the softener. The morphology of the “thin-film = DODAC aggregates” adsorbed on a hydrophilic surface were investigated by electron and scanning probe microscopy. An aqueous DODAC dispersion contain multilayer / unilamellar vesicles, and are partly adsorbed on the hydrophilic surface.
From the SPM measurement, the thickness of unilamellar vesicles after drying was 4 nm. Interior water of the vesicles was eliminated by drying, and the closed-shell structure collapsed. And this may have caused the bilayer to take on an interdigitated structure. The information about DODAC molecules would not form monolayers on a hydrophilic surface, but are adsorbed as vesicles.
