The unique properties of Gemini surfactants and their variety of applications encouraged many researchers
to synthesize more of these compounds. Herein, we constructed new cationic Gemini surfactants
by using aromatic spacers with different chain lengths. The critical micelle concentration value
for each surfactant was determined using the electrical conductivity measurements. The variety of aggregation
behaviors of Gemini surfactants was studied by using atomic force microscopy, which
encouraged us to use these surfactants in the preparation of mesoporous silica NPs. Our results indicated
that we have succeeded in finding a new soft-template for preparing uniform small size hollow spheres
mesoporous silica NPs of a diameter depending on the used surfactant. Moreover, we investigated the
effect of pH value on the morphology of the prepared silica, which indicated that using of acidic media
resulted in the formation of hollow micro-particles instead of hollow NPs. Furthermore, the anticorrosion
efficiency of these surfactants in comparing with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)
as a positive control was investigated by monitoring the corrosion rate of iron sheets in 0.5M of hydrochloric
acid based on weight loss method. Our results indicated that all the prepared Gemini surfactants
possessed higher anti-corrosion efficiency at very low concentrations than CTAB surfactant.