Polysorbates are hydrophilic, nonionic surfactants widely used in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. Often, these emulsifiers are used in combination with different preservatives, and it is essential to conduct an in-depth study of the influence of such additives on the properties of Polysorbate 60 solutions. In the current study, we investigated the effect of various food additives: citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, a mixture of citric acid and sodium citrate, and propylene glycol on the stability and micellar properties of Polysorbate 60 by using different experimental methods such as GC, DSC, SAXS, DLS, optical observations in polarised light, and NMR. When stored at room temperature without additives, solutions of Polysorbate 60 slowly undergo phase separation over time. Our results show that citric acid, a mixture of citric acid and sodium citrate, and propylene glycol increase the rate of this phase separation. In contrast, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate are incorporated into the mixed micelles. They localize within the palisade layer, a region of the micelle where the surfactant tails begin, effectively preventing the phase separation. As a result, Polysorbate 60 solutions with these specific additives remain transparent and stable for over a year

Alkyl sarcosinates are amino acid-based anionic surfactants commonly used as primary surfactants in sulfate-free personal care products. The major aim of this study is to identify the key factors influencing the rheological behaviour of sodium sarcosinate solutions and their mixtures with nonionic, zwitterionic, and cationic co-surfactants. To achieve this, we examined the effects of salt type and concentration for alkyl sarosinates with different chain lengths (dodecyl, tetradecyl, and cocoyl) across concentration range of 2–20 wt%. Experimental results reveal two distinct regions in the salt curve for the three studied sarcosinates. At low electrolyte concentrations, viscosity remains constant until reaching the critical electrolyte concentration, C1, beyond which viscosity increases logarithmically with salt concentration. Further electrolyte addition leads to phase separated solutions at the critical precipitation concentration, CTR. Both C1 and CTR decrease as the hydrocarbon chain length increases from dodecyl to tetradecyl. However, the presence of shorter chain molecules in cocoyl sarocisinate significantly increases both C1 and CTR due to the formation of spherical micelles. A theoretical expression for predicting viscosity dependence on salt concentration is derived and successfully applied to describe the experimental data. The adsorption energy of sodium and potassium to alkyl sacrosinate micelle surfaces is found to be much smaller than that to sodium lauroyl ether sulfate surfactants (1 vs. 3 kBT for Na+ and 0.8 vs. 3.8 kBT for K+). No significant effect of amphoteric co-surfactants, including cocoamidopropyl betaine, sulfobetaine, or decylamine oxide, is observed. NMR analysis confirms that cocoamidopropyl betaine and sodium dodecyl sarcosinate form mixed micelles that are structurally similar to sarcosinate micelles, as carboxyl groups remain exposed on the micelle surfaces in both cases. When using amine oxide and sulfobetaine, the increase in viscosity is attributed to the elongation of mixed micelles, though steric hindrance from side methyl groups limits their growth. The practical significance of this study lies in the finding that longer-chain alkyl sarcosinates (such as tetradecyl, as investigated here) can attain significantly higher viscosities at lower salt concentrations compared to shorter-chain analogs or surfactant mixtures. The scientific significance stems from the development of a theoretical model capable of predicting the viscosity of alkyl sarcosinate solutions across various surfactant and salt concentrations.

Hypothesis
The dispersions of nonionic sucrose ester surfactants in water exhibit a highly negative zeta-potential, though its origin remains controversial. The addition of electrolytes to these dispersions may influence their zeta-potential, thus potentially affecting their physicochemical properties.
Experiments
The electrolyte- and pH- driven gelation of aqueous dispersions of commercial sucrose stearate (S970) containing ca. 1:1 monoesters and diesters was studied using optical microscopy, rheological and zeta-potential measurements, and small-angle X-ray scattering techniques.
Findings
At low electrolyte concentrations and pH ≳ 5, 0.5–5 wt% S970 dispersions exhibited low viscosities and behaved as freely flowing liquids. The addition of electrolytes of low concentrations, e.g. 9 mM NaCl or 1.5 mM MgCl2, induced the formation of a non-flowing gels. This sol–gel transition occurred due to the partial screening of the diesters particles charge, allowing the formation of an attractive gel network, spanning across the dispersion volume. Complete charge screening, however, led to a gel-sol transition and phase separation. Gel formation was observed also by pH variation without electrolyte addition, whereas the addition of free fatty acids had negligible impact on dispersion properties. These findings support the hypothesis that the negative charge in sucrose ester dispersions arises from hydroxyl anions adsorption on particles surfaces. Gels were formed using just 1.3 wt% surfactant, and the critical electrolyte concentration for gelation was found to scale approximately with the square of the cation charge, in agreement with the low surface charge density theory. The biodegradable sucrose esters gels offer a sustainable alternative for structuring personal and home care products, replacing the wormlike micelles of synthetic surfactants typically used at much higher surfactant and salt concentrations.

Hypothesis: Aqueous solutions of long-chain water-soluble sucrose ester surfactants exhibit non-trivial response to temperature variations, revealing a peak in viscosity around 40–50 ◦C. While previous investigations have explored the structures within sucrose stearate systems at various constant temperatures, a comprehensive understanding of the entire temperature dependence and the underlying molecular factors, contributing to this phenomenon is currently missing. Experiments: Temperature dependent properties and supramolecular structures formed in aqueous solutions of commercial sucrose palmitate were examined using SAXS/WAXS, DSC, optical microscopy, rheological measurements, NMR, and cryo-TEM. Findings: The underlying mechanism governing this unusual behavior is revealed and is shown to relate to the mono- to di-esters ratio in the solutions. Solutions primarily containing sucrose monoesters (monoesters molecules ≳ 98% of all surfactant molecules) exhibit behavior typical of nonionic surfactants, with minimal changes with temperature. In contrast, the coexistence of mono- and di-esters results in the formation of discrete monodisperse diester particles and a network of partially fused diester particles at low temperature. As the temperature approaches the diesters’ melting point, wormlike mixed micelles form, causing a viscosity peak. The height of this peak increases significantly with the diester concentration. Further temperature increase leads to fluidization of surfactant tails and formation of branched micelles, while excess diester molecules phase separate into distinct droplets.

Bubble Ostwald ripening (OR) leads to a gradual increase of the mean bubble size in foams with time. The rate of OR can be reduced significantly or even arrested completely using appropriate solid particles and/or surfactants as foam stabilizers. In the current paper, we show that saponins, a widespread class of natural surfactants, can reduce significantly the rate of OR in foams. To reveal the reasons for the reduced rate of OR in saponin-stabilized foams, we performed measurements of the rate of bubble diminishing, for single air bubbles placed below a solution surface, with a series of saponin bio-surfactants. These saponin surfactants form adsorption layers with surface elasticity, spanning a very wide range – from almost zero up to several thousand mN/m. The measured rate of bubble OR showed no correlation with the surface elastic modulus (dilatational or shear), as measured at 0.1 Hz frequency of surface oscillations. A reasonable correlation was observed only with the surface stress (deviation from the equilibrium surface tension), measured at very slow rate of surface deformation, which mimics much better the actual processes of bubble OR in foams – higher surface stress corresponds to lower OR rate. New theoretical expression, accounting for the out-of- equilibrium surface tension during bubble shrinkage and for the gas flux across the meniscus regions surrounding the foam films, was derived and used to calculate theoretically the rate of bubble diminishing. The comparison of the theoretical predictions with the experimental data shows clearly that the main reason for the reduced rate of OR in the studied systems is the high resistance to gas transfer of the saponin adsorption layers. The deviations from the equilibrium surface tension, although noticeable, have smaller effect. The complementary experiments with actual foams showed that the rate of OR is even lower (compared to the rate measured with single bubbles) which is explained with the thicker non-equilibrium foam films, formed between the neighboring bubbles in saponin-stabilized foams.