Biological properties of sodium alkyl methyl ester sulfonate/alkyltrimethylammonium bromide surfactant mixtures

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces, B, Biointerfaces Vol. 89; no. 1; pp. 48 - 52
• Main Authors: Wong, S.P., Lim, W.H., Cheng, S.F., Chuah, C.H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Adhesives; Alkanesulfonates - chemistry; Alkanesulfonates - pharmacology; anionic surfactants; Anionic/cationic mixtures; bacteria; Bromides - chemistry; cationic surfactants; colloids; detergents; disinfectants; Escherichia coli; Esters; food industry; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Methylester α-sulfonate; MIC; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; minimum inhibitory concentration; mixing; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; quaternary ammonium compounds; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - chemistry; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds - pharmacology; Staphylococcus aureus; Surface-Active Agents - chemistry; Surface-Active Agents - pharmacology; toxicity; Trimethylammonium bromide; Anionic/cationic mixtures; Methylester α-sulfonate; Trimethylammonium bromide; MIC
• ISSN: 0927-7765; 1873-4367
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2011.08.021

[Display omitted] ► Biological properties of CmMES/CnTAB mixtures were studied and compared. ► Equimolar mixtures showed optimal inhibitive power against S. aureus and E. coli. ► Cationic portion of the mixtures play dominant role in the inhibitive power. ► Mixtures with longer hydrocarbon chain length have little or no inhibitive power. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are commonly used as disinfectant in medical care, food industry, detergents and glue industries. This is due to a small concentration of QACs is sufficient to inhibit the growth of various bacteria strains. In this work, the inhibitive power of cationic surfactants, alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (CnTAB) in the presence of anionic surfactants, sodium alkyl methyl ester α-sulfonate (CnMES) was studied. The growth inhibition test with gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria were used to determine the toxicity of single and mixed surfactants. Results from this work showed that certain mixed surfactants have lower minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) as compared to the single CnTAB surfactants. Besides that, it was also found that alkyl chain length and the mixing ratios of the surfactants play a significant role in determining the mixture inhibitive power.