Self-Association of Potassium Nonanoate Molecules in Aqueous Aerosil Dispersions: 13C NMR Data

The association of potassium nonanoate molecules in aqueous Aerosil dispersions at high and low surface charges of its particles are studied by the ¹³C NMR technique at frequencies of 75 and 125 MHz with the rotation of a sample at a magic angle. It is shown that, using the chemical shifts and spin–lattice relaxation times of ¹³C nuclei of single segments of the hydrophobic chain of a surfactant molecule, one can determine whether the segments are located in the adsorption layer on a solid surface or in the associates formed in the bulk solution. The values of the chemical shift and spin–lattice relaxation time depend, above all, on the value of the surface charge. The NMR parameters of two carbon atoms in the hydrophobic chain nearest to the polar group of the surfactant molecule appeared to be the most sensitive to the value of the adsorbent surface charge. It is discovered that, upon adsorption of potassium nonanoate from solutions with concentrations of 1.5–3 wt % and pH 6, the surfactant molecules are located in the adsorption layer parallel to the surface. At a higher surface charge, adsorption in the same concentration range occurs mainly on the hydroxyl groups; in this case, adsorbed molecules are arranged mostly along the normal to the surface. At surfactant concentrations much higher than the CMC (10–20%), the values of the chemical shift and relaxation time become closer to those measured in surfactant solutions in the absence of Aerosil.     

阳离子和两性表面活性剂对石英表面润湿性的影响

利用座滴法研究了阳离子表面活性剂十六烷基醚羟丙基季铵盐(C16PC)和两性离子表面活性剂十六烷基醚羟丙基羧酸甜菜碱(C16PB)溶液在石英表面上的润湿性质, 考察了表面活性剂类型及浓度对接触角的影响趋势, 讨论了黏附张力和黏附功的变化规律. 研究发现, 两种表面活性剂在高能的石英表面的吸附造成石英-水的界面自由能(γsl)增大. C16PB通过弱相互作用随机吸附到石英表面, 其增大γsl的能力与降低表面张力(γ1g)的能力相当, 接触角(θ)随浓度变化不大. C16PC 随体相浓度增大能够在石英表面通过静电作用形成定向排列的单分子层, 而后在临界胶束浓度(cmc)附近形成双层结构, 接触角随浓度变化的趋势可分为4个区域, 并通过一个极大值.     

Drop profile analysis tensiometry with drop bulk exchange to study the sequential and simultaneous adsorption of a mixed β-casein /C12DMPO system

The formation of mixed protein/surfactant adsorption layers is studied by the drop profile analysis tensiometry equipped with a special tool for drop volume exchange during experiments. This arrangement allows investigating in the traditional way by simultaneous adsorption from a mixed solution and also by a subsequent adsorption of the protein followed by surfactant. The experiments are performed for β-casein as the protein in the presence of different amounts of the non-ionic surfactant C₁₂DMPO. The surface layers formed via the two routes show similar equilibrium surface properties. However, the dynamics of desorption of the protein complexes into the pure buffer solution deviate significantly, which is explained by the different locations of the protein/surfactant interaction. Although in both cases the complex formation is based on hydrophobic interaction, the accessibility of the hydrophobic parts of pre-adsorbed proteins due to unfolding is more favourable by the surfactant than in the solution bulk. Therefore, the amount desorbed from surface layers formed from mixed solutions is significantly less as compared to the displacement of proteins by subsequently injected surfactants interacting at the surface.     

Solvent effect on the aggregate of fluorinated gemini surfactant at silica surface

The aggregate states of partially fluorinated gemini surfactant [(CF3)2CF(CF2)2(CH2)10N(CH3)2]2(CH2)6Br2 (C(F)(5)C10-C6-C10C(F)(5)) on silica surface were investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and water contact angle (CA) measurement by analyzing the effects of bulk concentration and adsorption time on stack state. On surfactant-adsorbed silica surfaces, there was a flat surface layer interspersed with some scattering surfactant aggregates. In the case of short adsorption times, the aggregates would be hemisphere. In the case of long adsorption times, the aggregates would be present in the form of bilayers. With the increase of bulk concentration, the adsorbed amount was enlarged and the surface layer became more compact. The formation of patchy bilayer aggregates indicated the saturation of the surface layer. Furthermore, organic solvent effects on the aggregate state of the surfactant on a silica surface were studied with four organic solvents, including n-hexane, dehydrated ethanol, 1,1,2-trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane, and toluene. With the treatment of different organic solvents, the hemisphere aggregates on the surface layer can rearrange into spherical bilayer, rodlike monolayer, and branched rodlike monolayer aggregates, respectively. The polarity of solvents and affinity of organic solvents for surfactant molecules may have a great impact on the stack state of the fluorinated gemini surfactant molecules.     

苄基取代甜菜碱对聚四氟乙烯表面润湿性的影响

利用座滴法研究了两性离子表面活性剂苄基取代烷基羧基甜菜碱(BCB)和苄基取代烷基磺基甜菜碱(BSB)在聚四氟乙烯(PTFE)表面上的润湿性质,考察了表面活性剂浓度对接触角的影响趋势,并讨论了粘附张力、固-液界面张力和粘附功的变化规律.研究发现,在低浓度时,表面活性剂通过疏水作用吸附到PTFE表面,疏水链苄基取代支链化使其在固-液界面上的吸附明显低于气-液界面,接触角在很大的范围内保持不变.当体相浓度增加到大于临界胶束浓度(cmc)时, BCB和BSB分子在固-液界面上继续吸附,分子逐渐直立,造成PTFE-液体之间的界面张力(γ_SL)进一步降低,表面亲水性增加,接触角随浓度增加明显降低;另一方面, BSB由于具有较大的极性头,在高浓度时空间阻碍作用明显,导致其对PTFE表面润湿性改变程度小于BCB.     

A simple adsorption model for ionic surfactants

In the past, few theoretical attempts have been made to describe quantitatively the adsorption of ionic surfactants at liquid interfaces. Well-known adsorption isotherms due to Frumkin or Hill–de Boer cannot respond to the specific electrostatic and geometric properties of the surfactant molecules. Our approach is based on a combination of the Gouy–Chapman theory with a modified Frumkin isotherm. The modification implies that the system is free to choose an optimal head group area and an optimal arrangement of the surfactant molecules in the interface as a function of bulk concentration. Interaction energies between neighbouring adsorbed surfactant molecules and between surfactant and water molecules are taken into consideration. The minimum of the Gibbs free energy of the system is equivalent to a minimal interfacial tension. Thus, the thermodynamically stable isotherm can be obtained as the lower envelope of the family of σ versus ln c isotherms resulting from different choices of the model parameters, including the area per molecule. According to the Gibbs equation, the Γ versus ln c adsorption isotherm is obtained as the derivative of this envelope. By variation of the model parameters, the envelope of the calculated adsorption isotherms can be fitted to experimental data of the interfacial tension versus bulk concentration. A computer program is used to calculate the σ versus c and the Γ versus ln c curves as well as to fit the parameters. Received: 28 October 1999/Accepted: 8 February 2000     

Noninteracting versus interacting poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-surfactant mixtures at the air-water interface

Two polymer-surfactant mixtures have been studied at the air-water interface using neutron reflectivity and surface tension techniques. For the noninteracting system poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)/octaethyleneglycol mono n-decyl ether (C10E8), the adsorption behavior is competitive and driven purely by surface pressure (pi). When pi(polymer) > pi(surfactant), the surface layer consists of almost pure polymer, and for pi(polymer) < pi(surfactant), the polymer is displaced from the surface by the increasing pressure of the surfactant. Beyond the CMC, the polymer is completely displaced from the surface. For the interacting system PNIPAM/sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) where the two species interact strongly in the bulk beyond the critical aggregation concentration (CAC), the surface behavior is more original. Earlier neutron reflectivity studies investigated PNIPAM adsorption behavior where the SDS was contrast-matched to the solvent. In the present study, complementary measurements of SDS adsorption where PNIPAM is contrast-matched to the solvent give a complete view of the surface composition of the mixed system. At a constant polymer concentration, with increasing SDS, three main regimes are obtained. For C(SDS) < CAC, adsorption is governed by simple competition and PNIPAM is predominant at the interface. At intermediate SDS concentration (CAC < C(SDS) < x2, where x2 indicates the predominance of free SDS micelles), interfacial behavior is governed by bulk polymer-surfactant interaction. Adsorbed polymer is displaced from the interface to form PNIPAM-SDS complex in the bulk. SDS adsorption remains weak since most of the SDS molecules are used to form bulk polymer-surfactant aggregates. Further increase in SDS concentration results in continued displacement of PNIPAM and an abrupt increase in SDS adsorption. This is a result of saturation of bulk polymer chain with adsorbed micelles. Interestingly, beyond x2, PNIPAM is not completely displaced from the surface. A mixed PNIPAM-SDS adsorbed layer with enhanced packing of the SDS monolayer is formed.     

Adsorption of a cationic surfactant onto cellulosic fibers I. Surface charge effects

The adsorption of four cationic surfactants with different alkyl chain lengths on cellulose substrates was investigated. Cellulose fibers were used as model substrates, and primary alcohol groups of cellulose glycosyl units were oxidized into carboxylic groups to obtain substrates with different surface charges. The amount of surfactant adsorbed on the fiber surface, the fiber zeta-potential, and the amount of surfactant counterions (Cl(-)) released into solution were measured as a function of the surfactant bulk concentration, its molecular structure, the substrate surface charge, and the ionic strength. The contribution of each of these parameters to the shape of the adsorption isotherms was used to verify if surfactant adsorption and self-assembly models usually used to describe the behavior of surfactant/oxide systems can be applied, and with which limitations, to describe cationic surfactant adsorption onto oppositely charged cellulose substrates.     

Which surfactants reduce surface tension faster? A scaling argument for diffusion-controlled adsorption

Consider the example of surfactant adsorbing from an infinite solution to a freshly formed planar interface. There is an implicit length scale in this problem, the adsorption depth h, which is the depth depleted to supply the interface with the absorbed surfactant. From a mass balance, h can be shown to be the ratio of the equilibrium surface concentration gamma eq to the bulk concentration C infinity. The characteristic time scale for diffusion to the interface is tau D = h2/D, where D is the diffusivity of the surfactant in solution. The significance of this time scale is demonstrated by numerically integrating the equations governing diffusion-controlled adsorption to a planar interface. The surface tension equilibrates within 1-10 times tau D regardless of bulk concentration, even for surfactants with strong interactions. Dynamic surface tension data obtained by pendant bubble method are rescaled using tau D to scale time. For high enough bulk concentrations, the re-normalized surface tension evolutions nearly superpose, demonstrating that tau D is indeed the relevant time scale for this process. Surface tension evolutions for a variety of surfactants are compared. Those with the smallest values for tau D equilibrate fastest. Since diffusion coefficients vary only weakly for surfactants of similar size, the differences in the equilibration times for various surfactant solutions can be attributed to their differing adsorption depths. These depth are determined by the equilibrium adsorption isotherms, allowing tau D to be calculated a priori from equilibrium surface tension data, and surfactant solutions to be sorted in terms of which will reduce the surface tension more rapidly. Finally, trends predicted by tau D to gauge what surfactant properties are required for rapid surface tension reduction are discussed. These trends are shown to be in agreement with guiding principles that have been suggested from prior structure-property studies.     

Surface complexation of DNA with a cationic surfactant

We have studied the surface complexation of DNA with a cationic surfactant (DTAB) using a combination of methods: dynamic surface tension, ellipsometry and Brewster angle microscopy. Below the surfactant critical aggregation concentration (cac), complexation occurs only at the surface, and the results are consistent with neutralization of the surfactant charges by the free polymer ions. Above the cac, surfactant starts to bind cooperatively to DNA in the bulk, and adsorption of the preformed hydrophobic surfactant DNA aggregate is now possible, leading to thick surface layers. At still higher concentrations of surfactant (still below saturation of binding in the bulk), there is decrease in adsorption due to competition with bulk aggregates. Finally, as surfactant concentration is increased still further, bulk aggregates become less soluble and large amounts are adsorbed, forming a surface layer, which is solid-like and brittle.     

Monte Carlo simulations of Lennard-Jones nonionic surfactant adsorption at the liquid/vapor interface

We present Monte Carlo simulations of nonionic surfactant adsorption at the liquid/vapor interface of a monatomic solvent. All molecules in the system, solvent and surfactant, are characterized by the Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential using differing interaction parameters. Surfactant molecules consist of an amphiphilic chain with a solvophilic head and a solvophobic tail. Adjacent atoms along the surfactant chain are connected by finitely extensible harmonic springs. Solvent molecules move via the Metropolis random-walk algorithm, whereas surfactant molecules move according to the continuum configurational bias Monte Carlo (CBMC) method. We generate quantitative thermodynamic adsorption and surface tension isotherms in addition to surfactant radius of gyration, tilt angles, and potentials of mean force. Surface tension simulations compared to those calculated from the simulated adsorbed amounts and the Gibbs adsorption isotherm agree confirming equilibrium in our simulations. We find that the classical Langmuir isotherm is obeyed for our LJ surfactants over the range of head and tail lengths studied. Although simulated surfactant chains in the bulk solution exhibit random orientations, surfactant chains at the interface orient roughly perpendicular and the tails elongate compared to bulk chains even in the submonolayer adsorption regime. At a critical surfactant concentration, designated as the critical aggregation concentration (CAC), we find aggregates in the solution away from the interface. At higher concentrations, simulated surface tensions remain practically constant. Using the simulated potential of mean force in the submonolayer regime and an estimate of the surfactant footprint at the CAC, we predict a priori the Langmuir adsorption constant, KL, and the maximum monolayer adsorption, Gammam. Adsorption is driven not by proclivity of the surfactant for the interface, but by the dislike of the surfactant tails for the solvent, that is by a "solvophobic" effect. Accordingly, we establish that a coarse-grained LJ surfactant system mimics well the expected equilibrium behavior of aqueous nonionic surfactants adsorbing at the air/water interface.     

Co-adsorption of carboxymethyl-cellulose and cationic surfactants at the air-water interface

We investigated the interaction between an anionic polyelectrolyte (carboxymethylcellulose) and cationic surfactants (DTAB, TTAB, and CTAB) at the air/water interface, using surface tension, ellipsometry, and Brewster angle microscopy techniques. At low surfactant concentration, a synergistic phenomenon is observed due to the co-adsorption of polyelectrolyte/surfactant complexes at the interface, which decreases the surface tension. When the surfactant critical aggregation concentration (cac) is reached, the adsorption saturates and the thickness of the adsorbed monolayer remains constant until another characteristic surfactant concentration, C0, is reached, at which all the polymer charges are bound to surfactant in bulk. Above C0, the absorbed monolayer becomes much thicker, suggesting adsorption of bulk aggregates, which have become more hydrophobic due to charge neutralization.     

Modeling of the adsorption kinetics of surfactants at the liquid-fluid interface of a pendant drop

This paper presents a theoretical model for simulating the adsorption kinetics of a surfactant at the liquid-fluid interface of a pendant drop. The diffusion equation is solved numerically by applying the semidiscrete Galerkin finite element method to obtain the time-dependent surfactant concentration distributions inside the pendant drop and inside the syringe needle that is used to form the pendant drop. With the obtained bulk surfactant concentration distributions, the adsorption at the interface is determined by using the conservation law of mass. It should be noted that the theoretical model developed in this study considers the actual geometry of the pendant drop, the depletion process of the surfactant inside the pendant drop, and the mass transfer of the surfactant from the syringe needle to the pendant drop. The present pendant-drop model is applied to study the adsorption kinetics of surfactant C10E8 (octaethylene glycol mono n-decyl ether) at the water-air interface of a pendant drop. The numerical results show that the Ward and Tordai equation, which was derived for adsorption from a semi-infinite surfactant solution to a planar interface, is unsuitable for interpreting the dynamic surface or interfacial tension data measured by using the pendant-drop-shape techniques, especially at low initial surfactant concentrations. The spherical-drop model, which assumes the pendant drop to be a perfectly spherical drop with the same drop volume, can be used to interpret the dynamic surface or interfacial tension data for pendant drops either with high initial surfactant concentrations or with low initial surfactant concentrations in short adsorption durations only. For pendant drops with low initial surfactant concentrations in long adsorption durations, the theoretical model developed in this study is strongly recommended.     

Observation of a liquid-gas phase transition in monolayers of alkyltrimethylammonium alkyl sulfates adsorbed at the air/water interface

The equilibrium adsorption layers of symmetric chain alkyltrimethylammonium alkyl sulfates (Cn+.Cn- for n = 8, 12) were investigated at the air/water interface by sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy in the function of the bulk surfactant concentration. To ensure the surface purity of the solutions investigated, an improved version of the foam fractionation method was used for the purification of the constituent ionic surfactants and the surface purity of the solutions was also checked. In the monolayer of the C12+.C12- surfactant, a two-dimensional first-order gas/liquid phase transition was observed. At surfactant bulk concentrations just exceeding the concentration corresponding to the phase transition, the monolayer is conformationally disordered, liquidlike, but with increasing bulk surfactant concentration the conformational order of the monolayer increases. The SFG spectra of the C8+.C8- monolayer did not indicate the occurrence of phase transition at room temperature.     

Effect of surfactant structure on the stability of carbon nanotubes in aqueous solution

The suspending behaviors of multiple-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), including pristine MWNTs (p-MWNTs) and acid-mixture-treated MWNTs (MWNTCOOH), stabilized by cationic single-chain surfactant, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), and cationic gemini surfactant hexyl-alpha,beta-bis(dodecyldimethylammonium bromide) (C 12C 6C 12Br 2) were studied systematically. The surfactant structure influences the suspendability of MWNTs dramatically as well as the surfactant adsorption behavior on the nanotubes. Although both the surfactants can disperse the MWNTs effectively, they actually show different stabilizing ability. DTAB is not capable of stabilizing these two MWNTs below critical micelle concentration (CMC). However, C 12C 6C 12Br 2 can suspend both the nanotubes effectively even well below its CMC. Moreover, the adsorption of these two surfactants reaches equilibrium at twice the CMC with the original MWNT concentration of 2 mg/mL, 2 mM for C 12C 6C 12Br 2, and 30 mM for DTAB. After the adsorption equilibrium, the maximum amounts of the two suspended MWNTs in C 12C 6C 12Br 2 solution are about twice as much as those in DTAB solution. The strong hydrophobic interaction among the C 12C 6C 12Br 2 molecules and between the C 12C 6C 12Br 2 molecules and the nanotubes as well as the high charge capacity of C 12C 6C 12Br 2 lead to its much stronger adsorption ability on the MWNTs and result in its superior stabilizing ability for the MWNTs in aqueous phase. The gemini surfactant provides a possibility to effectively stabilize the MWNTs in aqueous solutions even at very low surfactant concentration well below its CMC.     

Tuning surface tension and aggregate shape via a novel redox active fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon hybrid surfactant

This paper reports the surface and bulk properties of a newly designed redox active hybrid surfactant Fc(CH2)11N+(C2H5)2(CH2)2(CF2)5CF3 I- or FcFHUB, where Fc is ferrocene. This new surfactant displays strong surface tension lowering ability (31 mN/m) and low critical micelle concentration (0.03 mM in 100 mM Li2SO4). The minimum area per surfactant molecule at the interface is determined as 121 angstroms2/molecule. The electrochemical oxidation of ferrocene (Fc) to ferrocenium cationic (Fc+) leads to reversible changes in the surface and bulk properties of this surfactant. Following the oxidation, desorption of surfactant molecules from the surface of the solution takes place. This desorption of surfactant molecules gives rise to the oxidation-induced surface tension change up to 15 mN/m. Although this new molecule shows salt-insensitive behavior in its reduced form, the oxidized form of the surfactant shows slight sensitivity to the electrolyte concentration. The molecular structure of FcFHUB allows the formation of large aggregates in the form of coils at a temperature of 33 degrees C. When the temperature rises to 50 degrees C, the aggregates are determined to be in the vesicle structure. The oxidation of Fc to Fc+ disrupts large aggregates to the smaller aggregates at low temperatures. The oxidation of surfactant molecules at high temperature leads to disruption of the aggregates to monomers.     

Dynamic adsorption of weakly interacting polymer/surfactant mixtures at the air/water interface

The dynamic adsorption of polymer/surfactant mixtures containing poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with either tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C(14)TAB) or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) has been studied at the expanding air/water interface created by an overflowing cylinder, which has a surface age of 0.1-1 s. The composition of the adsorption layer is obtained by a new approach that co-models data obtained from ellipsometry and only one isotopic contrast from neutron reflectometry (NR) without the need for any deuterated polymer. The precision and accuracy of the polymer surface excess obtained matches the levels achieved from NR measurements of different isotopic contrasts involving deuterated polymer, and requires much less neutron beamtime. The PEO concentration was fixed at 100 ppm and the electrolyte concentration at 0.1 M while the surfactant concentration was varied over three orders of magnitude. For both systems, at low bulk surfactant concentrations, adsorption of the polymer is diffusion-controlled while surfactant adsorption is under mixed kinetic/diffusion control. Adsorption of PEO is inhibited once the surfactant coverage exceeds 2 μmol m(-2). For PEO/C(14)TAB, polymer adsorption drops abruptly to zero over a narrow range of surfactant concentration. For PEO/SDS, inhibition of polymer adsorption is much more gradual, and a small amount remains adsorbed even at bulk surfactant concentrations above the cmc. The difference in behavior of the two mixtures is ascribed to favorable interactions between the PEO and SDS in the bulk solution and at the surface.     

Influence of the interfacial adsorptions on the imbibition of aqueous solutions of low concentration of the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 into calcium fluoride porous medium

The imbibition of aqueous solution of Triton X-100 in porous columns of calcium fluoride has been carried out in order to investigate the surfactant influence on the capillary rise. Experiments have consisted of the measurement of the increase in the weight of the porous columns caused by the imbibition of the solutions. From their analysis, it has been found that the capillary rise velocity does not depend on the surfactant concentration, and that imbibition of these solutions behaves as in the case of water. This unexpected finding can not be attributed to depletion of the surfactant molecules from the advancing meniscus, since this effect can not be caused by the adsorption at the solid. This lack of surfactant adsorption on the solid is precisely the reason that justifies the observed behaviour. So, it has been proved that the driving force for the capillary rise movement will remain unaltered despite the surfactant addition whenever the free energies of the solid interfaces are not modified by the adsorption on the solid. Therefore, it is concluded from this study that only if adsorption on the solid happened, the imbibition could be influenced by the surfactant concentration.     

New methodology to determine the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism from experimental dynamic surface tension data

We present a new methodology to determine the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism (diffusion-controlled vs mixed diffusion-barrier controlled), including deducing the kinetics parameters (the diffusion coefficient, D, and the energy-barrier parameter, beta), from the experimental short-time dynamic surface tension (DST) data. The new methodology has the following advantages over the existing procedure used to analyze the experimental DST data: (a) it does not require using a model for the equilibrium adsorption isotherm, and (b) it only requires using the experimental short-time DST data measured at two initial surfactant bulk solution concentrations. We apply the new methodology to analyze the experimental short-time DST data of the following alkyl poly(ethylene oxide), CiEj, nonionic surfactants: C12E4, C12E6, C12E8, and C10E8 measured using the pendant-bubble apparatus. We find that for C12E4 and C12E6, the effect of the energy barrier on the overall rate of surfactant adsorption can be neglected for surfactant bulk solution concentrations below their respective critical micelle concentrations (CMCs), and therefore, that the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism for C12E4 and C12E6 is diffusion-controlled at any of their premicellar surfactant bulk solution concentrations. On the other hand, for C12E8 and C10E8, we find that their respective CMC values are large enough to observe a significant effect of the energy barrier on the overall rate of surfactant adsorption. In other words, for C12E8 and C10E8, the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism shifts from diffusion-controlled to mixed diffusion-barrier controlled as their premicellar surfactant bulk solution concentrations increase. We test the new methodology by predicting the short-time DST profiles at other initial surfactant bulk solution concentrations, and then comparing the predicted DST profiles with those measured experimentally. Very good agreement is obtained for the four CiEj nonionic surfactants considered. We also compare the results of implementing the new methodology with those of implementing the existing procedure, and conclude that using a model for the equilibrium adsorption isotherm can lead not only to different values of D and beta, but it can also lead to a completely different determination of the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism. Since the new methodology proposed here does not require using a model for the equilibrium adsorption isotherm, we conclude that it should provide a more reliable determination of the rate-limiting adsorption kinetics mechanism, including the deduced kinetics parameters, D and beta.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of amphiphilic dimers at a liquid-vapor interface

Molecular dynamics simulations are utilized to simulate a model liquid-vapor-amphiphile system. Amphiphilic surfactant molecules are modeled as dimers composed of a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. Three dimer models with three different head sizes and two different head-to-tail size ratios are studied. The surfactant molecules distribute preferentially at the interfaces at low concentrations and form micelles in the bulk liquid phase as the concentration increases. We find that the surface tension decreases as molecular concentration increases, with a reduction in the rate of decrease after micellization occurs. The extent to which a surfactant can reduce the surface tension at a given concentration is found to depend on the head size. Furthermore, the head size and concentration dependence of the surfactant tilt-angle distribution is studied and compared to experimental data.