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Effect of charged colloidal particles on adsorption of surfactants at oil-water interface
Weixing Wang1, Zhiang Zhou, K Nandakumar
1Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G6.
Abstract:
A change of oil/water interfacial tension in the presence of cationic or anionic surfactants in an organic phase was observed due to the addition of charged fine solids in the aqueous phase. The charged fine solids in the aqueous phase adsorb surfactants diffused from the oil phase, thereby causing an increase in the bulk equilibrium surfactant concentration in the aqueous phase, governed by the Stern-Grahame equation. Consequently, surfactant adsorption at the oil-water interface increases, which was demonstrated from the measured reduction of the oil-water interfacial tension. The increased surfactant partition in the aqueous phase in the presence of the charged particles was confirmed by the measured decrease in the surface tension for the collected aqueous solution after solids removal, as compared with the cases without solids addition.
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A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules, atoms, and/or ions)...
Micelles

