New pyrrolidone citrate surfactants(HCA-nC8P, HCA-nC12P) were constructed via acid-alkali reactions of pyrrolidone surfactants (N-octyl-2-pyrrolidone, C8P and N-dodecyl-2- pyrrolidone, C12P) with citric acid. The related factors affecting surface-active properties and the effects of different proportions of citric acid on the solubility and wetting of C8P or C12P were studied. The experiments of surface tension and electrical conductivity show that the ionic surfactants are formed, and the addition of citric acid can affect the surface activity of HCA-nC12P more than that of HCA-nC8P. When the mole ratio of C8P or C12P and citric acid increases, CMC and Γmax gradually decrease, pC20 and Amin increase. When the mole ratio is 1:1, the water solubility of HCA-1C8P or HCA-1C12P increases, and the wettability gets better as the ratio increases. Through rheological experiments, pyrrolidone citrate surfactants can well increase the viscosity of sodium lauroyl sarcosine aqueous solution. The addition of HCA-nC8P can increase the viscosity of 15 wt% sodium lauryl sarcosine aqueous solution by 10~15 times, and with the increase of carbon chain length(HCA-nC12P), the viscosity can increase to 70~80 times.