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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Accurate Determination of the Equilibrium Surface Tension Values with Area Perturbation Tests
Published on: August 30, 2019
Dynamic surface tension of aqueous solutions of ionic surfactants: role of electrostatics
Hernán Ritacco1, Dominique Langevin, Haim Diamant
1Departamento de Química Física I, Facultad de Cs. Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The adsorption kinetics of the cationic surfactant dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide at the air-water interface has been studied by the maximum bubble pressure method at concentrations below the critical micellar concentration. At short times, the adsorption is diffusion-limited. At longer times, the surface tension shows an intermediate plateau and can no longer be accounted for by a diffusion-limited process. Instead, adsorption appears kinetically controlled and slowed down by an adsorption barrier. A Poisson-Boltzmann theory for the electrostatic repulsion from the surface does not fully account for the observed potential barrier. The possibility of a surface phase transition is expected from the fitted isotherms but has not been observed by Brewster angle microscopy.
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