Interfacial Dilational Properties of Hydrophobically Modified Partly Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide and Anionic Surfactants at the Water-Decane Interface

The dilational viscoelastic properties of hydrophobically modified partly hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and anionic surfactants (4,5-diheptyl-2-propylbenzene sulfonate and gemini surfactant C₁₂COONa-p-C₉SO₃Na) in the absence or presence of electrolyte have been investigated at the decane–water interface by means of longitudinal method and the interfacial tension relaxation method. Experimental results show that at low surfactant concentration, the increase of the dilational modulus by the addition of surfactant molecules at low frequency might be explained by the mix-adsorption of the polymer chains and surfactant molecules. At the same time, polymer chain could sharply decrease the dilational modulus of surfactant film mainly due to the weakening of the strong interactions among long alkyl chains in surfactant molecules. At high surfactant concentration, the addition of surfactant molecules can decrease the dilational modulus of polymer solution due to the fast process involving in the exchange of surfactant molecules between the interface and the mixed complex formed by surfactant molecules and hydrophobic micro-domains. The added electrolyte, which results in screening of electrostatic interactions between the ionized groups, generally increases the frequency dependence of the interfacial dilational modulus. The data obtained on the relaxation processes via interfacial tension relaxation measurements can explain the results from oscillating barriers measurements very well.