Eco-favourable Mobile Phase in Thin Layer Chromatographic Analysis of Surfactants: Resolution of Coexisting Alkyl Dimethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride, Cetyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide and Triton X 100

Abstract

A thin-layer chromatographic system comprising of silica gel as stationary phase and a mixture of methanol, 0.1 % aqueous sodium thiocyanate, acetone and ethyl acetate in 7 : 3 : 2 : 3 ratio as eco-favourable mobile phase has been found most efficient for the separation of ternary mixture of surfactants (alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride (ADBAC) + cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) + Triton X 100). The separation pattern has been presented as densitogram. Chromatographic parameters like ΔR_F, separation factor (α) and resolution (R_S) for the separation have been calculated. The effect of the presence of foreign substances such as metal cations, metal anions, amino acids and vitamins as impurities on the separation has been examined. The mobility trend of the separated surfactants was also examined by replacing methanol with other alcohols. The detection limits for ADBAC, CTAB and Triton X 100 have been determined. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the identification of ADBAC in the household cleaning product “Lizol”.