Determination of Solubility of Sodium Salts in Aqueous Surfactant and STPP Solutions Using an Ion Selective Electrode.

Solubility of inorganic salts in the mixed systems containing surfactants and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) is very important for the production of laundry detergents. In this work we explored the solubility of NaCl, Na2SO4, and Na2CO3 in aqueous surfactant and STPP solutions using an ion selective electrode at 298.15 K. In the experiments, electromotive forces (EMF) for the ternary systems were measured using an ion-meter with a sodium ion-selective composite electrode and the relationship between the solubility and EMF was analyzed by a potentiometric analysis. The proposed method has advantages in avoiding the solid-liquid separation operation and solution supersaturation. The experimental results indicated that the salting-out effect caused by surfactant and STPP can decrease the solubility of sodium salts in the aqueous systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]