Abstract
The adsorption of nonionic surfactants, of type nonylphenol—poly(propylene oxide)—poly(ethylene oxide), on polystyrene latex has been measured. The adsorbed amount was found to increase rapidly with concentration at very low surfactant concentrations in the equilibrium solution. Slightly above the critical micelle concentrations of the surfactants the adsorbed amounts reach a limiting value. Analysis of the isotherms shows that the poly(propylene oxide) group affects neither the adsorption free energy nor the cross-sectional molecular surface area at close packing of the surfactants. These two quantities are only a function of the ethylene oxide chain length; with increasing chain length the adsorption free energy decreases and the cross-sectional molecular area increases. It was also found that the driving force of adsorption is mainly due to a loss of unfavourable hydrocarbon—water contacts when the surfactant is adsorbed from aqueous solution. The driving force of adsorption is therefore, in this case, mainly a function of the surfactant structure and not of the nature of the surface.
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