Aggregation and electrochemical properties of 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-dodecanoylthiourea: a novel thiourea-based non-ionic surfactant

A novel thiourea-based non-ionic surfactant 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-dodecanoylthiourea (4CPDT) was synthesized from decanoyl chloride, potassium thiocyanate and 4-chloroanline in high yield. The structural chemistry of the compound was done by multiple nuclear NMR (1H, 13C) and FT-IR. UV-Visible spectrophotometry and pendant drop methods were used to evaluate their critical micelle concentration in ethanol and hexane. This surfactant showed very low solubility in water, and interestingly low but well-defined, sub-millimolar critical micelle concentration (CMC) in ethanol and hexane, demonstrating that this is moderately amphiphobic. Its low value of critical micelle concentration indicates economical use for cleaning purposes and environment-friendly applications. It was also characterized by cyclic and square wave voltammetry and found to be electrochemically active giving sharp signal in different pH media