A group of Gemini quaternary ammonium surfactants with the formula C _n H _{2 n +1} CONH(CH ₂ ) ₂ N ⁺ (CH ₃ ) ₂ (CH ₂ ) ₂ N ⁺ (CH ₃ ) ₂ (CH ₂ ) ₂ NHCOC _n H _{2 n +1} · 2Y ( n = 11, 13 and 15, Y = HCOO ⁻ , CH ₃ COO ⁻ and CH ₃ CHOHCOO ⁻ ) have been synthesized by a counterion conversion process and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. Their adsorption and self-aggregation properties are investigated by surface tension, conductivity, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. The results show that these surfactants reduce the surface tension of water to a minimum value of 26.51 mN m ⁻¹ at a concentration of 5.72 × 10 ⁻² mmol l ⁻¹ . Furthermore, the increased alkyl chain length of the carboxylic counterions leads to the increased critical micelle concentration, the decreased degree of counterion binding ( β ) and the decreased self-assembly tendency, but the minimum area per surfactant molecule ( A _min ) adsorbed at the air–aqueous solution are similar. TEM images reveal that these surfactants self-assemble spontaneously into aggregates with vesicle or bilayer structures. It is also found that they have superior antibacterial activity at a concentration of 0.1 g l ⁻¹ . The high surface activity and high antibacterial activity of the Gemini quaternary ammonium salt surfactants containing different carboxylic counterions bring more possibilities for the application in the field of biomedicine.

The volatile compounds in 16 different storage containers and years of Xiangjiao Baijiu (XJBJ) were compared and analyzed via direct injection (DI) combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and headspace extraction (HS) coupled with gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) for the first time. Through HS-GC-IMS analysis, it was found that the succession rules of 14 compounds such as furfural during aging process. A total of 60 compounds were identified using DI-GC–MS. Twenty-five of these compounds were further quantified, and 19 compounds had odor activity values (OAVs) > 1, which were important contributor to aroma of XJBJ. Among them, those with OAVs >1000 included ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, ethyl butanoate, and ethyl pentanoate. Combining the results of quantitative, OAVs and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed that 10 compounds such as ethyl octanoate were the important compounds that lead to the differences between different storage types of XJBJ.

A series of amide quaternary ammonium surfactants with the formula C _n H_2n+1CONH(CH₂)₂N⁺(CH₃)₃·CH₃CO₃ ^- (n = 9, 11, 13, 15) were synthesized using a fatty acid, N,N-dimethylethylenediamine, and a green reagent dimethyl carbonate. A comparative study of the four surfactants in terms of surface activity, aggregation characteristics, and foam properties was conducted. The results show that these amide quaternary ammonium surfactants reduce the surface tension of water to a minimum value of 23.69 mN·m^-1 at a concentration of 1.55 × 10^-4 mol·L^-1 and self-assemble spontaneously into aggregates, which are mostly vesicles. Furthermore, with increasing the alkyl chain length, their critical micelle concentration (CMC) values and surface tension values at the CMC (γ_CMC) decrease and then increase, and the degree of counterion binding (β) decreases. It is also found that these amide quaternary ammonium surfactants exhibit excellent foam ability and foam stability.