Abstract: A series of surfactant sodium dialkyl sulfosuccinates,SSN8,SSI8,SSN10 and SSI10 were prepared through two steps.For the first step, cis-butenedioic anhydride reacted with n-octanol,iso-octanol,n-decanol,and iso-decanol separately to obtain diesters.Then,the diesters were sulfonated by sodium bisulfite to produce the sulfosuccinates.The structure of the target products was characterized by FTIR.Surface performance of aqueous solution of the target products as well as interfacial performance between aqueous solution of the target products and normal alkanes was evaluated.The cmc of these surfactants is in the range of 10^-6-10^-3 mol/L magnitude.The corresponding surface tensions are in the range of 24.90-30.00 mN/m.According to the results of interfacial tension measurement,the sulfosuccinates with branched carbon chain are more suitable for oil phase with higher carbon numbers than the sulfosuccinates with straight carbon chain.

Key words: sodium dialkyl sulfosuccinate, esterification, sulfonation, surface tension, interfacial tension