Study on aqueous film-forming foam extinguishing agent based on fluorocarbon cationic-hydrocarbon anionic surfactants mixture system

Fluorocarbon surfactants were the main components of aqueous film-forming foam extinguishing agents (AFFF). Unfortunately, the widely used fluorocarbon surfactant perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was limited due to its toxicity, bioaccumulation and biodegradability. In this paper, an environmentally friendly quaternary ammonium cationic fluorocarbon surfactant with high surface activity and simple synthesis route was reported. The surface performance and aggregation behavior of the mixed solution of this fluorocarbon surfactant and sodium n-octyl sulfate were studied by means of surface tension meter and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results showed that the synergistic effect of sodium n-octyl sulfate and this fluorocarbon surfactant was significant, and many vesicles could be observed in the mixed solution with the concentration of 0.1 mol/L under TEM. Subsequently, three environmental friendly AFFF formulations (F-1, F-2, F-3) were designed with the mixture of the fluorocarbon surfactant, sodium n-octyl sulfate and lauryl betaine BS-12 as foaming agent. Through its foam performance test, it could be seen that F-3 showed relatively excellent foam performance. The initial foam height h(0) was 70 mm, the 25% drainage time was 315 s, the extinguishing time was 28 s, and the burn-back time was 720 s. This kind of fire extinguishing agent had the potential of fire protection application.