Critical behavior and interfacial tension of mixtures of propylene glycol and ethylene glycol oligomers

This investigation presents an analysis of the critical behavior of mixtures of oligomers of propylene glycol, PG₁₇, and ethylene glycol, EG_n, withn=3, 4, 5, 6.4, 8.7, 12.1 and 22.1. The critical coordinates, _c andT _c were determined from the phase diagrams. The critical compositions compare very well with the Huggins-Flory predictions. The interaction parameter _n is around one for EG₃, EG₄ and EG₅ and it increases up to two for the higher oligomers. The break in the interaction parameter also corresponds to a minimum in the critical temperature. The phase diagrams and the interfacial tension were used to get the critical exponents and , respectively. The data were analysed with two approaches. First, from the temperature dependence of the length of the tie-lines and of the interfacial tension up to the upper critical solution temperature, UCST. Second, with the data at 30°C using the critical temperature of the systems as the variable. The first method led to =0.39±0.05 in good agreement with the result of the second method, =0.37±0.04. The exponents for the interfacial tension, , determined with the first method for PG₁₇ with EG_6.4, EG_8.7 and EG_12.1 are =1.66±0.11, 1.46±0.25 and 1.73±0.18, respectively. The second method led to =1.17±0.14. The critical exponents are compared to mean field and ising-3D predictions.     

Surface tension,step free energy,and facets in the equilibrium crystal

Some aspects of the microscopic theory of interfaces in classical lattice systems are developed. The problem of the appearance of facets in the (Wulff) equilibrium crystal shape is discussed, together with its relation to the discontinuities of the derivatives of the surface tension (n) (with respect to the components of the surface normaln) and the role of the step free energy ^step(m) (associated with a step orthogonal tom on a rigid interface). Among the results are, in the case of the Ising model at low enough temperatures, the existence of ^step(m) in the thermodynamic limit, the expression of this quantity by means of a convergent cluster expansion, and the fact that 2^step(m) is equal to the value of the jump of the derivative / (when varies) at the point =0 [withn=(m ₁ sin ,m ₂ sin , cos )]. Finally, using this fact, it is shown that the facet shape is determined by the function ^step(m).     

Hydration and interfacial activity of methyl 8-pyridyloctanoates and extraction of copper(II) from chloride solutions

The interfacial tension of individual methyl 8-pyridyloctanoates containing the hydrophobic group at different positions of the pyridine ring was measured at the tolune/water interface. The extraction of copper(II) fom chloride solutions with these reagents was studied. Considering solvent extraction, methyl 8-(2-pyridyl)octanoate had a worse orientation at the interface than methyl 8-(3-pyridyl)octanoate and methyl 8-(4-pyridyl)octanoate. PM3 semiempirical quantum chemical computing indicates that the oxygen of the carbonyl group forms hydrogen bonds with water molecules more easily than the second oxygen atom and the nitrogen in the pyridine ring. However, at the adsorption layer, this hydration is possible only for methyl 8-(2-pyridyl)octanoate. Methyl 8-(3-pyridyl)octanoate and methyl 8-(4-pyridyl)octanoate are strong copper extractants from chloride solutions, while extraction is not observed for methyl 8-(2-pyridyl)octanoate.     

The effect of counterions on the surface adsorption and micelle formation in mixed surfactant systems of dodecyl sulfates

 The surface tension of the aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and tetramethylammonium dodecyl sulfate (TMADS) was measured as a function of total molality of the surfactants at fixed composition of TMADS at 298.15 K under atmospheric pressure. The phase diagrams of adsorption and of micelle formation, the activity coefficients, and the excess Gibbs energy were calculated to estimate the deviation from the ideal mixing quantitatively. The preferential adsorption and the micelle formation for TMA⁺ to Na⁺ is attributable to some extent to the hydrophobicity of the methyl groups of TMA⁺. The composition of TMA⁺ in the micelle is larger than that in the adsorbed film at equilibrium. That is, a larger hydrated counterion is more likely to exist in the micelle than in the adsorbed film owing to geometrical benefit. The negative values of the excess Gibbs energy of the adsorbed film and of the micelle arise from the positive ones of the excess entropy greater than that of excess enthalpy. The counterions of very similar size are mixed ideally in the micelle and the size effect appears sensitively in the adsorbed film. Received: 23 May 2001 Accepted: 16 July 2001     

Chemical structure and surface activity

Surface tension measurements on aqueous solutions of 2-alkyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolanes, 2-alkyl-4-methyl-1,3-dioxolanes, and 2-alkyl-1,3-dioxanes at a temperature of 293.2 K are presented. The surface tension isotherms obtained were used to calculate some adsorption parameters, i. e. the efficiency of surface tension reduction, pC₂₅, surface excess concentration, , and surface area,A, per molecule in the adsorption layer. The Temkin adsorption isotherm equation was used to calculate standard free energy of adsorption, G ⁰ _=0.5 . The increments for a methylene group in the alkyl chain, G ^o [–CH₂–], and for the residual part of the molecule, G ^o [W], were also determined.The results obtained show that: (i) an increase in alkyl chain length at the C-2 carbon atom of the ring by one methylene unit brings about a marked increase in surface activity; (ii) the introduction of a methyl group into the 1,3-dioxolane ring (i. e., at C-2 or C-4 atom) has a weaker effect on surface activity of alkyl-substituted 1,3-dioxolanes, and (iii) the contribution of the 5- and 6-membered 1,3-dioxacyclane rings to a total surface activity of, respectively, 2-alkyl-1,3-dioxolanes and 2-alkyl-1,3-dioxanes is similar.     

A proposal for the estimation of binary mixture activity coefficients from surface tension measurements throughout the entire concentration range

A method to estimate the concentration dependence of the bulk activity coefficients of both binary mixture components from experimental surface tension data covering the whole concentration range is presented. To this end, high-quality experimental surface tension data as a function of the concentration, paying special attention to the diluted regions, are needed. The method is based on the application of equilibrium conditions to the surface chemical potential arisen from the Volmer equation (the simplest non-ideal surface EOS) and to the bulk chemical potential coming from the three-suffix Margules equation for activity coefficients. It can be applied provided that positive aneotropy is not present and the second derivative of the surface pressure as a function of the mole fraction is not positive in any composition region, which means rather unrestrictive conditions. In order to test the method, a compilation of 25 systems for which surface tension and activity coefficient data are simultaneously available in the literature was performed, turning out that most of them involved water. It was found that surface tension data with enough concentration coverage and good quality are really scarce, which makes the development of this kind of methods difficult.     

Solvent effects on chemical processes. 3. Surface tension of binary aqueous organic solvents

The surface tension of binary solvents is modelled by analogy to solvation effects arising from solvent-solute interactions. Competitive exchange equilibria are postulated between solvent component I (water) and solvent component 2 (organic cosolvent) for solute, which in this case is air; the solvation shell is thus the surface phase. A quantitative relationship is given between surface tension and mole fractions x₁ and x₂, the model parameters being exchange equilibrium constants K₁ and K₂. The equation is analyzed, it is applied to literature surface tension data, and it is compared with an earlier model from this laboratory. Curve-fits are very good, and the parameters appear to possess physical significance.     

The Micellar Dissociation Concentration of Polyoxyethylene Mono N-Decylether Nonionic Surfactants in Water

This paper will demonstrate a method for determining the micellar dissociation concentration (MDC) of polyoxyethylene mono n-decylether nonionic surfactants in water. Turbidity and surface tension measurements were applied to commercial samples without further purification. Complicated curves containing turbidity maxima and surface tension minima were obtained for some impure samples. It is difficult to determine the critical micellar concentration (CMC) for impure surfactants. Explanations are given for all curves obtained for pure and impure samples and the method of identifying the MDC values is illustrated. It is more practical for surfactant users to determine the MDC values in their own laboratory than to search for the CMC values in the literature when the surfactants arc impure.     

Interfacial tensions in simple oil-water-surfactant systems near their three-phase region

Measurements are reported of the interfacial tension in two-phase ternary systems of water(1) + hydrocarbon(2) + 2-butoxyethanol(3) atT=25°C along a linear path to the critical point (plait point). The two systems studied (with heptane and octane as the hydrocarbon component) exhibit a three-phase region and differ in respect of the distance of the upper critical end pointT _u of this three-phase region from the experimental temperature (T>T _u). Along the chosen linear path, a stepwise decrease of the tension with increasing concentration of the amphiphile, ₃, is found: in region (i) decreases from its initial value (50 mN m^–1) to about 2 mN m^–1 due to the adsorption of the amphiphile; in region (ii) which extends over a wide composition range of the upper phase, exhibits an inflection point and is only a weak function ofw ₃; on approaching the critical point there is a second inflection point in vs.w ₃ and finally, in a rather narrow range of concentration (w ₃ ^c -w ₃), a follows the asymptotic critical-point scaling (region iii). In region (ii), the interfacial tension of the octane system (for whichT-T _u is only about 1 K) falls below that of the heptane system and remains nearly constant, as expected for systems near three-phase coexistence.     

Surface tension of electrolyte solutions

A simple analytic expression is derived for the excess surface tension of electrolyte solutions, which is in good agreement with the experimental data on NaCl in the concentration range up to as high as 1 M. This expression is consistent with the following two theories: (i) The recent theory of Levin and Flores-Mena (Europhys Lett (2001) 56:187), who demonstrated the important contribution of the formation of an ion free layer at the air–electrolyte solution interface, and (ii) the Onsager–Samaras theory (J Chem Phys (1934) 2:528) modified by taking into account the ion-free layer effect. It is shown that the excess surface tension consists of three parts: the contributions of the ion-free layer, the image interaction between the electrolyte ions and the ion-free layer, and the image interaction between the electrolyte ions and air.