An experimental and theoretical study of competitive adsorption at the n-heptane/water interface

A model to calculate the interfacial concentration of competing surface active species in a two-phase oil/water system was developed. To enable the calculation of the surface excess of 2-hydroxy-5-nonylacetophenone oxime (HNAPO, active ingredient of LIX 84) in the presence of surfactants competing for interfacial area, an interfacial adsorption competition model was derived for noninteracting surface active species in a n-heptane/aqueous system, assuming ideal enthalpy and entropy of mixing. The model was found to be valid for HNAPO in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or dodecyldimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium (DDSA). In the case of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) or octa(ethylene glycol) mono-n-dodecyl ether (C12E8) as the competing surfactants with HNAPO, the predicted surface excess values from the model fit less favorably. The difference was shown to not be due to nonideal entropy of mixing.