Naphthalene sulfonate functionalized dendrimers at the solid-liquid interface: influence of core type, ionic strength, and competitive ionic adsorbates

The adsorption of naphthalene disulfonic acid surface-functionalized dendrimers (generation 4) on to colloidal alumina particles is reported, considering the role of dendrimer core type (ammonia vs benzylhydrylamine-polylysine) and electrolyte addition on the adsorption affinity and interfacial packing and competitive adsorption. Irrespective of the dendrimer core type, the maximum adsorbed amount increased with increasing ionic strength. The adsorption affinity of a benzylhydrylamine-cored SPL-7013 increased with increasing ionic strength, whereas a decrease was observed for the ammonia-cored SPL-2923. At high ionic strengths (>or=10(-1) M NaCl) dendrimers close pack at the interface as an array of equivalent hard spheres, whereas at lower ionic strengths both dendrimers occupy a lower area than theoretically predicted for either cubic or hexagonal close packing, based on double layer repulsion. The additional attraction between dendrimers is attributed to the intercalation of the neighboring dendrons. Adsorption of SPL-2923 is enhanced by the presence of Ca2+ ions and depressed by the presence of HCO3- and HPO4(2-) ions, whereas SPL-7013 adsorption is only depressed by the presence of HPO4(2-) ions, suggesting a dendrimer-specific competitive adsorption process. This work clearly demonstrates the role of dendrimer architecture on adsorption at an interface, a process of fundamental importance to a wide range of dendrimer applications.     

Impurity effects at hydrophobic surfaces

The effective charge of hydrophobic surfaces and in particular of the air–water interface is a crucial parameter for electrochemistry, colloidal chemistry and interfacial science, but different experiments give conflicting estimates. Zeta-potential and disjoining-pressure measurements point to a strongly negative surface charge, often interpreted as being due to adsorbing hydroxide ions. In contrast, surface tension measurements of acids and bases suggest the hydronium ion to be surface active, in agreement with some surface-specific non-linear spectroscopy results. The air–electrolyte interfacial tension exhibits a characteristic minimum at millimolar electrolyte concentration for all salts, the so-called Jones–Ray effect, which points to competitive adsorption mechanisms present in dilute electrolyte solutions. We show that all these puzzling experimental findings can be explained by the presence of trace amounts of surface-active charged impurities, most likely anionic surfactants.     

Thermodynamic model of surfactant adsorption on soft liquid crystal interfaces

The Gibbs adsorption isotherm for planar liquid crystal/fluid interfaces is derived using the anisotropic Gibbs-Duhem equation. The Gibbs adsorption isotherm for planar interfaces is used to analyze the adsorption-driven orientation transition in aqueous solutions of anionic surfactants in contact with rodlike uniaxial nematic liquid crystal films. In qualitative agreement with experiments, the model predicts that, as the surfactant concentration increases, the tangential (planar) average molecular orientation of the liquid crystal with respect to the interface undergoes a transition to a normal (homeotropic) orientation. The anchoring coefficient or strength of anisotropic component of the interfacial tension is shown to depend on the surfactant's concentration. Analyzing the response to addition of a co-cation, the model reveals that, as the fractional coverage of the surfactant's chains increases, the interpenetration of liquid crystal molecules between the adsorbed surfactant tails promotes the orientation transition; at even higher surfactant chain concentrations, interpenetration is hindered because of lack of available space and a random surface orientation emerges. Thus, for aqueous surfactant solutions in contact with nematic liquid crystals, increasing the surfactant concentration leads to the following interfacial liquid crystal orientation transition cascade, planar orientation --> homeotropic orientation --> random orientation, which can lead to new sensor capabilities and surface structuring processes.     

Chemical oscillation with periodic adsorption and desorption of surfactant ions at a water/nitrobenzene interface.

Chemical oscillations with periodic adsorption and desorption of surfactant ions, alkyl sulfate ions, at a water/nitrobenzene interface have been investigated. The interfacial tension was measured with a quasi elastic laser scattering (QELS) method and the interfacial electrical potential was obtained. We found that this oscillation consists of a series of abrupt adsorptions of ions, followed by a gradual desorption. In addition, we observed that each abrupt adsorption was always accompanied by a small waving motion of the liquid interface. From the analysis of the video images of the liquid interface or bulk phase, we could conclude that each abrupt adsorption is caused by nonlinear amplification of mass transfer of ions from the bulk phase to the liquid interface by a Marangoni convection, which was generated due to local adsorption of the surfactant ions at the liquid interface that resulted in the heterogeneity of the interfacial tension. In the present paper, we describe the mechanism of the chemical oscillation in terms of the hydrodynamic effect on the ion adsorption processes, and we also show the interfacial chemical reaction with ion exchange during the ion desorption process.     

The thermodynamic characteristics of adsorption of hydrogen,sodium, and potassium chlorides at the aqueous solution-gas interface

Thermodynamic models of the adsorption of ions at the interphase boundary between a solution of a 1,1-electrolyte and a gas are suggested. The experimental surface tension isotherms and the isotherms of excess adsorption of hydrogen, sodium, and potassium chlorides from aqueous solutions were used to show that the formation of the surface layer followed both the mechanism of coadsorption of the anion and cation and the mechanism of predominant adsorption of one of the ions. The calculated total adsorption isotherms were used to obtain the dependences of the heats and entropies of adsorption on the amount of the ion adsorbed. The results are discussed in terms of the solvation and desolvation of electrolyte ions in bulk solution and at liquid-vapor interfaces.     

Charged molecular films on brownian particles: structure, interactions, and relation to stability

The interfacial film of physically adsorbed ionic amphiphilic molecules on submicron particles dispersed in water was studied by a combination of surface tension measurements, laser light scattering (LLS) and high-shear experiments in a microchannel. General features in the structure and morphology of the molecular film are identified and understood in the framework of the two-step Langmuir adsorption model deduced from the adsorption isotherm. On the basis of this approach, the phase transitions and structural ordering of the film at the solid-liquid interface are analyzed in detail. A novel methodology based on high-shear aggregation experiments subsequently analyzed by means of LLS is proposed and turns out to be able to provide significant information on the phase transitions and structural arrangements of the adsorbed molecules (in substantial agreement with the adsorption isotherm model) as well as on the resulting interactions. Particularly important for applications is the result that, with no added salt, the films on two particles can adhere/fuse, leading to aggregation as long as an uncovered (hydrophobic) patch is present (unsaturated molecular layers). In the opposite case of fully developed layers, by analyzing the mechanism of shear aggregation of charged particles in the low-salt limit, we show that, when the hydrophobic attraction is absent, short-range hydration repulsive forces dominate over Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) forces and adhesion can never be achieved even upon application of very high collision energies. Consistently, a lower limiting boundary for the hydration interaction is calculated and found to be in agreement with data in the literature.     

The double layer and ion adsorption at the interface between two non miscible solutions: Part I. Interfacial tension measurements for the water-nitrobenzene tetraalkylammonium bromide systems

The classical treatment of the double layer has been extended to the interface between two immiscible solutions. The model presented is composed of an inner compact layer, characterized by a dipolar potential drop, between two diffuse type layers. The systems studied are composed of C₂ to C₅ quaternary ammonium bromides at partition equilibrium between water and nitrobenzene for which the inner potential difference, for a given electrolyte, is independent, at least in the lower concentration range, of the concentration. Drop weight interfacial measurements and the use of the Gouy-Chapman approach show that the tetraethyl-, tetrapropyl- and tetrabutylammonium ions are not adsorbed within the inner compact layer, and the dipolar potential drop of this layer can then be determined. Tetrapentylammonium ions on the contrary are specifically adsorbed but the amount of adsorbed ions within the compact inner layer cannot be evaluated because of the impossibility, in this case, of determining the dipolar potential drop.     

Effects of ion solvation on phase equilibrium and interfacial tension of liquid mixtures

We study the bulk thermodynamics and interfacial properties of electrolyte solution mixtures by accounting for electrostatic interaction, ion solvation, and inhomogeneity in the dielectric medium in the mean-field framework. Difference in the solvation energy between the cations and anions is shown to give rise to local charge separation near the interface, and a finite Galvani potential between two coexisting solutions. The ion solvation affects the phase equilibrium of the solvent mixture, depending on the dielectric constants of the solvents, reflecting the competition between the solvation energy and translation entropy of the ions. Miscibility is decreased if both solvents have low dielectric constants and is enhanced if both solvents have high dielectric constant. At the mean-field level, the ion distribution near the interface is determined by two competing effects: accumulation in the electrostatic double layer and depletion in a diffuse interface. The interfacial tension shows a nonmonotonic dependence on the salt concentration: it increases linearly with the salt concentration at higher concentrations and decreases approximately as the square root of the salt concentration for dilute solutions, reaching a minimum near 1 mM. We also find that, for a fixed cation type, the interfacial tension decreases as the size of anion increases. These results offer qualitative explanations within one unified framework for the long-known concentration and ion size effects on the interfacial tension of electrolyte solutions.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the cation binding to a phosphatidylcholine monolayer at a polarised interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions

Thermodynamic analysis of the polarised interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) was outlined, which accounts for the adsorption of phosphatidylcholine (PC) both as a zwitterion and a cation formed by the aqueous cation association with the zwitterionic PC form, as well as for the aqueous cation transfer facilitated by PC leading to its depletion from the interface. Electrocapillary equation was derived clarifying the physical significance of the surface charge density; the differential capacity and the PC surface excess concentration. The potential dependence of the interfacial tension calculated using the Damaskin’s adsorption model of a compound adsorbed in two different forms was found to agree well with that measured for the polarised water|1,2-dichloroethane interface in the presence of dl-α-dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Experimentally observed effect of the nature of the aqueous cation on the interfacial tension was ascribed to the difference in the PC association constant.     

The double layer and ion adsorption at the interface between two immiscible solutions: Part III. Long chain alkyl-trimethylammonium halides at partition equilibrium between water and nitrobenzene

The surface excesses of alkyltrimethylammonium halides have been evaluated from interfacial surface tension measurements carried out at the partition equilibrium between water and nitrobenzene.The model considered is constituted by two space charge layers on either side of a central compact layer which contains alkyltrimethylammonium ions arranged as in an adsorbed monolayer.The value of the electrical potential at the junction plane between the two phases depends on the degree of dissociation within the inner layer and on the number of specifically adsorbed ions. If one assumes complete dissociation it is possible to establish the variation of the adsorption isotherms with the chemical and electrical parameters and thus determine the value of the free energy of adsorption with the number of CH₂ groups in the alkyl chain.The results obtained do not indicate an important effect due to the counter ion, which would tend to substantiate the hypothesis of a total dissociation within the central layer.Furthermore the fact is stressed that the knowledge of the isotherm depends on the magnitude of the potential drop within the compact layer, the value of which cannot be determined by purely thermodynamical measurements.     

Preferential adsorption of cationic surfactant mixture studied by bromide ion selective total-reflection XAFS measurement

The total-reflection XAFS measurement possessing bromide ion selectivity at the interfacial region was applied to the adsorbed film of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HTAC) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) mixture. The surface compositions XjH of individual ions j ( j = HTA+, Cl(-), DTA+, and Br (-)) were evaluated by combining the surface excess concentration of Br(-) estimated from the XAFS with the surface composition of the respective surfactants from the surface tension results. It is clearly shown that HTA+ and Br(-) are preferentially adsorbed to DTA+ and Cl(-) at the air/water interface. The preferential adsorption was estimated numerically in terms of activity coefficient fi+/-(H,p) of component i and excess Gibbs energy of adsorption ?prH,E. Then, the magnitude of ?prH,E was compared with that of ?prH,E attributable to intrinsic interaction between ions.     

Ions at the water-oil interface: interfacial tension of electrolyte solutions

A theory, based on a modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation, is presented that allows us to calculate the excess interfacial tension of an electrolyte-oil interface accurately. The chaotropic (structure-breaking) ions are found to adsorb to the water-oil interface as the result of large polarizability, weak hydration, and hydrophobic and dispersion interactions. However, kosmotropic (structure-making) anions as well as potassium and sodium ions are found to be repelled from the interface. The adsorption of I(-) and ClO(4)(-) is found to be so strong as to lower the interfacial tension of the water-oil interface, in agreement with the experimental data. The agreement between the calculated interfacial tensions and the available experimental data is very good. The theory is used to predict the interfacial tensions of six other potassium salts, for which no experimental data is available at the moment.     

THEORETICAL MODELING OF IONIC SURFACTANT ADSORPTION ON MINERAL OXIDE SURFACES

A model for the adsorption of ionic surfactants on oppositely charged solid surfaces of uniform charge density is developed. The model is based on the assumption that, on the solid surface, adsorbed surfactant monomers, monolayered and bilayered surfactant aggregates of different sizes and specifically adsorbing ions of added electrolyte constitute a mixture of hard discs. It means that only excluded area interactions between the surface discs are taken into account. To avoid a rapid two-dimensional condensation of the adsorbed surfactant the potential energy per molecule in the surface aggregates, which is a sum of chemical and electrostatic interactions, is assumed to decrease linearly with the increasing aggregate size. The electrostatic interactions of ionic species with the charged solid surface are described in terms of the Guy-Chapman theory of the double layer formation. The appropriate equations for adsorption isotherms of surfactant and electrolyte ions are derived and used to predict the experimental adsorption isotherms of DTAB on the precipitated silica at two different salt concentrations in the aqueous solution, On the basis of the obtained results the evolution of the adsorbed phase structure and the charge of silica particles with an increasing surface coverage is discussed.     

The Hofmeister series effect in adsorption of cationic surfactants--theoretical description and experimental results

Interfacial properties of cationic surfactants show strong dependence on the type of surfactant counterion or on the type of anion of a salt added to the surfactant solution. In the paper, the models of ionic surfactant adsorption that can take into account ionic specific effects are reviewed. Model of ionic surfactant adsorption based on the assumption that the surfactant ions and counterions undergo nonequivalent adsorption within the Stern layer was selected to describe experimental surface tension isotherms of aqueous solutions of a number of cationic surfactants. The experimental isotherms for: n-alkyl trimethylammonium cationic surfactants, namely: C(16)TABr (CTABr or CTAB), C(16)TACl, C(16)TAHSO(4), C(10)TABr and C(12)TABr as well as decyl- and dodecylpyridinium salts with and without various electrolyte anions as Cl(-), Br(-), F(-), I(-), NO(3)(-), ClO(4)(-) and CH(3)COO(-) were described in terms of the model and a good agreement between the theory and experiment was obtained for a wide range of surfactants and added electrolyte concentrations. A very pronounced Hofmeister effect in dependence of surface tension of cationic surfactants on the type of anion was found. Analysing this dependence in terms of the proposed model of ionic surfactant adsorption, strong correlation between "anion surface activity" (the model parameter accounting for ion penetration into the Stern layer), and the ion polarizability was obtained. That suggests that the mechanism related to the dispersive interaction of polarized ion with electric field at interface is responsible for Hofmeister series effects in surface activity of cationic surfactants. The same mechanism was proposed recently to explain the dependence of surface tension increase with electrolyte concentration on anion and cation type.     

Influence of Oleic Acid and Electrolyte on the Interfacial Dilational Properties of Surfactant/Polymer Systems at the Decane-Water Interface

The dilational properties of partly hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) and 4,5-diheptyl-2-propylbenzene sulfonate (377) mixed systems in the absence or presence of electrolyte or oleic acid at the oil-water interface have been described by means of the oscillating barriers method and the interfacial tension relaxation method. The polymer plays different roles in influencing the nature of polymer-surfactant adsorbed layers at different surfactant concentrations. At low surfactant concentration, the addition of polymer perhaps weakens the “entanglement” of long alkyl chains, which decreases strikingly the dilational modulus of the adsorbed layer. At high surfactant concentration, the addition of the polymer increases the dilational modulus due to the hydrophobic interactions between polymer and surfactant molecules. On the case of adding electrolyte, the frequency dependence of dilational modulus increases due to the enhancement of exchange process of surfactant molecules and bivalent cation has more obvious effect than Na ion. Oleic acid plays dual roles in controlling interfacial dilational properties of mixed adsorption films: a small quantity of oleic acid increases the dilational modulus by forming densely packed mixed adsorption layer with surfactant molecules, while the superfluous addition of oleic acid could decrease the dilational modulus mainly due to the weakening of the “entanglement” among long alkyl chains in surfactant molecules.     

Melittin adsorption and lipid monolayer disruption at liquid-liquid interfaces

Melittin, a membrane-active peptide with antimicrobial activity, was investigated at the interface formed between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES) supported on a metallic electrode. Ion-transfer voltammetry showed well-defined semi-reversible transfer peaks along with adsorptive peaks. The reversible adsorption of melittin at the liquid-liquid interface is qualitatively discussed from voltammetric data and experimentally confirmed by real-time image analysis of video snapshots. It is also demonstrated that polarization of the water/1,2-DCE interface results in drastic drop shape variations caused by large variations of the interfacial tension. The experimental data also confirmed that maximum adsorption occurs near the ion transfer potential. Finally, the interaction of melittin with a monolayer of L-α-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) was also investigated showing that melittin destabilizes the lipidic monolayer facilitating its desorption. The non-covalent complex formation between melittin and DPPC was confirmed by mass spectrometry.     

Exponential sensitivity and speciation of Al(III), Sc(III), Y(III), La(III), and Gd(III) at fused silica/water interfaces

The binding contants, adsorption free energies, absolute adsorbate number densities, and interfacial charge densities of Al(III), Sc(III), Y(III), La(III), and Gd(III) interacting with fused silica/water interfaces held at pH 4 were determined using second harmonic generation and the Eisenthal χ((3)) technique. By examining the relationship between the measured adsorption free energies and the electric double layer interfacial potential at multiple electrolyte concentrations, we elucidate the charge state and possible binding pathways for each ion at the fused silica surface. Al(III) and Sc(III) ions are found to bind to the fused silica surface as fully hydrated trivalent species in a bidentate geometry. In contrast, the Y(III), La(III), and Gd(III) ions are each shown to adsorb to the silica surface in a decreased charge state, but the extent and mode of binding varies with each ion. By quantifying the exponential sensitivity of the surface coverage of the adsorbed ions to their charge state directly at the fused silica/water interface, we provide benchmarks for theory calculations describing the interactions of metal ions with oxide interfaces in geochemistry and hope to improve the prediction of trivalent metal ion transport through groundwater environments.     

Zn2+ and Sr2+ adsorption at the TiO2 (110)-electrolyte interface: influence of ionic strength, coverage, and anions

The X-ray standing wave technique was used to probe the sensitivity of Zn2+ and Sr2+ ion adsorption to changes in both the adsorbed ion coverage and the background electrolyte species and concentrations at the rutile (alpha-TiO2) (110)-aqueous interface. Measurements were made with various background electrolytes (NaCl, NaTr, RbCl, NaBr) at concentrations as high as 1 m. The results demonstrate that Zn2+ and Sr2+ reside primarily in the condensed layer and that the ion heights above the Ti-O surface plane are insensitive to ionic strength and the choice of background electrolyte (with <0.1 A changes over the full compositional range). The lack of any specific anion coadsorption upon probing with Br-, coupled with the insensitivity of Zn2+ and Sr2+ cation heights to changes in the background electrolyte, implies that anions do not play a significant role in the adsorption of these divalent metal ions to the rutile (110) surface. Absolute ion coverage measurements for Zn2+ and Sr2+ show a maximum Stern-layer coverage of approximately 0.5 monolayer, with no significant variation in height as a function of Stern-layer coverage. These observations are discussed in the context of Gouy-Chapman-Stern models of the electrical double layer developed from macroscopic sorption and pH-titration studies of rutile powder suspensions. Direct comparison between these experimental observations and the MUltiSIte Complexation (MUSIC) model predictions of cation surface coverage as a function of ionic strength revealed good agreement between measured and predicted surface coverages with no adjustable parameters.     

Interfacial behavior of Cyanex 302 and kinetics of lanthanum extraction

In this paper, interfacial tension of Cyanex 302 is measured by a Sigma-701 tensiometer and the adsorption parameters are calculated according to the Gibbs and Szyszkowski adsorption isotherms. The interfacial adsorbed behavior of Cyanex 302 is investigated. The results demonstrate that the dimer is the predominant species in the bulk organic phase; however, the monomer is adsorbed at the interface and more interfacially active. The effects of aqueous pH, ion strength, and temperature on the interfacial activity of Cyanex 302 in heptane are discussed and explained in detail. The lower interfacial activity of Cyanex 302 in aromatic hydrocarbon than in aliphatic hydrocarbon has also been determined. The values of interfacial excess at the saturated interface increase in the order n-heptane>cyclohexane>toluene>benzene, which is consistent with the order of extractability of lanthanum by Cyanex 302 in these diluents. The interfacial activity data are used to discuss the kinetic mechanism of lanthanum(III) extraction. It is shown that an interfacial mechanism is very probable, and the extraction limiting step is the reaction between the Cyanex 302 molecules in the organic phase sublayer and the adsorbed intermediate complex.     

Phosvitin-calcium aggregation and organization at the air-water interface

Phosvitin, an egg yolk protein constituted by 50% of phosphorylated serines, presents good emulsifying properties whereas its interfacial properties are not yet clearly elucidated and remain object of discussion. Phosvitin has a high charge density and naturally forms aggregates through phosphocalcic bridges in egg yolk. This high charge density, doubled by this capacity to aggregate, limits the adsorption of the protein at the air-water interface. In this work, we investigated the aggregation impact by calcium ions on the organization of the phosvitin interfacial film using the atomic force microscopy. Phosvitin interfacial films without calcium ions are compared to phosvitin interfacial films formed in the presence of calcium ions in the subphase. We demonstrated that phosvitin is able to anchor at air-water interfaces in spite of its numerous negative charges. In the compression isotherm a transition was observed just before 28 mN/m signifying a possible modification of the interfacial film structure or organization. Calcium ions induce a reorganization towards a greater compaction of the phosvitin interfacial film even at low surface pressure. In conclusion we suggest that, in diluted regime, phosvitin molecules could adsorb by their two hydrophobic extremities exhibiting loops in the aqueous phase, whereas in concentred regime (high interfacial concentration) it would be adsorbed at the interface by only one extremity (brush model).