Sonochemical Degradation of Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate in Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

The sonochemical degradation of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) has been studied over a wide concentration range spanning the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the surfactant. The rate of degradation of SDBS increased linearly with increasing concentration below the CMC of SDBS. Above the CMC, the degradation rate continued to increase but at a much slower rate compared with that below the CMC. It was found that the increasing rate of degradation of SDBS correlated closely with the decrease in the air/water surface tension of the surfactant solutions. The results of this study strongly suggest that the initial step in the degradation process is OH• radical attack onto SDBS molec..