Dynamic Interfacial Tension of Surfactant Mixtures at Liquid–Liquid Interfaces

Abstract

Dynamic interfacial tensions for surfactant mixtures at liquid–liquid interfaces were obtained with a drop volume tensiometer. The surfactants tested were Triton X-100, palmitic acid, and Span 80 at both the water–hexadecane and water–mineral oil interfaces. Two-surfactant mixtures were examined with the surfactants initially dissolved in different phases to minimize bulk–phase interactions. For concentrations below the CMC, it was found that the adsorption kinetics of palmitic acid and Triton X-100 mixtures were dominated by the latter surfactant. Apparent diffusion coefficients were obtained for Triton X-100 both in the absence and in the presence of palmitic acid. These values were largely insensitive to the presence of palmitic acid. For mixtures of Span 80 and Triton X-100, the adsorption kinetics were found to be influenced significantly by both surfactants. In this case, relative changes in surfactant concentrations affected the dynamic interfacial tension of the mixed system. A previously proposed multicomponent adsorption model described the dynamic interfacial tension adequately at low concentrations of Triton X-100, when desorption could be neglected. At higher concentrations, modifications were needed to account for solubilization into the oil phase. These corrections allowed the model to describe the long time adsorption quite well. However, predicted values of short time interfacial tensions were overestimated, likely due to a synergistic interaction of the two surfactants.