Interfaces, adsorption

It has been experimentally verified (Maujean et al., 1986) that the crystallization rate, monitored by measnring the electrical conductivity of wine, is directly proportional to the surface area of the liquid/solid interface represented by the nuclei. This result is consistent with the following eqnation, proposed by Dunsford and Boulton (1981), defining the mass velocity at which the precrystalline aggregates of potassium bitartrate diffuse towards the surface (A) of the adsorption interface ... 

Fig. 1.13. Diagram illustrating the importance of the diffusion speed of THK aggregates towards the soUd/liquid adsorption interface for the growth of nuclei FA, adsorption film X, molecular aggregate of THK diffusing towards the interface IS/L, solid/liquid interface N, nuclei C, THK concentration in the liquid phase Q, THK concentration at the solid/liquid interface S, theoretical solubility of THK C — S, supersaturation of the wine C > > S...

Based on Fig.l, consider that the adsorption interface is controlled by capillary cohesion (i.e. surface tension) in the process of coal adsorption of nitrogen, the following can be obtained ... 

D2 the assumption that a higher surfiice coverage wtdi gas/liquid surface tension as the controlling factor at the adsorption interface. 

An overview of the field of polymer adsorption, including theoretical and general aspects, has been presented in Chapters 2 and 3. In historical terms it can be said that, while interest in the adsorption of polymers is now quite old (1), the development of interest in polyelectrolyte adsorption is more recent (2,3). This subject is treated in some detail (including the case where the adsorption interface is oppositely charged) in a recently published general treatise on the subject of polymer adsorption (3). 

The arrangement of the atoms is probably the most important property for understanding any material on the atomic scale, It is safe to say that in most cases of materials science, especially In problems involving surfaces, molecular adsorption, interfaces, and defects, the atomic positions are not precisely known and difficult to determine experimentally. Since most physical and chemical properties of a material depend on the positions of the atoms, their determination is of critical importance. 

This character, called amphiphilic, produces two characteristic sets of behavior, adsorption on the interfaces and auto-association in the form of micelles that extend into the oily surroundings as illustrated in Figure 9.8. 

Systems involving an interface are often metastable, that is, essentially in equilibrium in some aspects although in principle evolving slowly to a final state of global equilibrium. The solid-vapor interface is a good example of this. We can have adsorption equilibrium and calculate various thermodynamic quantities for the adsorption process yet the particles of a solid are unstable toward a drift to the final equilibrium condition of a single, perfect crystal. Much of Chapters IX and XVII are thus thermodynamic in content. 

The solid-gas interface and the important topics of physical adsorption, chemisorption, and catalysis are addressed in Chapters XVI-XVIII. These subjects marry fundamental molecular studies with problems of great practical importance. Again the emphasis is on the basic aspects of the problems and those areas where modeling complements experiment. 

We have considered the surface tension behavior of several types of systems, and now it is desirable to discuss in slightly more detail the very important case of aqueous mixtures. If the surface tensions of the separate pure liquids differ appreciably, as in the case of alcohol-water mixtures, then the addition of small amounts of the second component generally results in a marked decrease in surface tension from that of the pure water. The case of ethanol and water is shown in Fig. III-9c. As seen in Section III-5, this effect may be accounted for in terms of selective adsorption of the alcohol at the interface. Dilute aqueous solutions of organic substances can be treated with a semiempirical equation attributed to von Szyszkowski [89,90]... 

The most widely used experimental method for determining surface excess quantities at the liquid-vapor interface makes use of radioactive tracers. The solute to be studied is labeled with a radioisotope that emits weak beta radiation, such as H, C, or One places a detector close to the surface of the solution and measures the intensity of beta radiation. Since the penetration range of such beta emitters is small (a ut 30 mg/cm for C, with most of the adsorption occurring in the first two-tenths of the range), the measured radioactivity corresponds to the surface region plus only a thin layer of solution (about 0.06 mm for C and even less for H). 

As an example, Tajima and co-workers [108] used labeling to obtain the adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate at the solution-air interface. The results, illustrated in Fig. Ill-12, agreed very well with the Gibbs equation in the form... 

Smith [113] studied the adsorption of n-pentane on mercury, determining both the surface tension change and the ellipsometric film thickness as a function of the equilibrium pentane pressure. F could then be calculated from the Gibbs equation in the form of Eq. ni-106, and from t. The agreement was excellent. Ellipsometry has also been used to determine the surface compositions of solutions [114,115], as well polymer adsorption at the solution-air interface [116]. 

Fig. Ill-13. (a) Plots of molecular density versus distance normal to the interface a is molecular diameter. Upper plot a dielectric liquid. Lower plot as calculated for liquid mercury. (From Ref. 122.) (b) Equilibrium density profiles for atoms A and B in a rare-gas-like mixmre for which o,bb/ o,aa = 0.4 and q,ab is given by Eq. III-56. Atoms A and B have the same a (of Eq. m-46) and the same molecular weight of SO g/mol the solution mole fraction is jcb = 0.047. Note the strong adsorption of B at the interface. [Reprinted with permission from D. J. Lee, M. M. Telo de Gama, and K. E. Gubbins, J. Phys. Chem., 89, 1514 (1985) (Ref. 88). Copyright 1985, American Chemical Society.]...

If the surface tension of a liquid is lowered by the addition of a solute, then, by the Gibbs equation, the solute must be adsorbed at the interface. This adsorption may amount to enough to correspond to a monomolecular layer of solute on the surface. For example, the limiting value of in Fig. Ill-12 gives an area per molecule of 52.0 A, which is about that expected for a close-packed... 

The succeeding material is broadly organized according to the types of experimental quantities measured because much of the literature is so grouped. In the next chapter spread monolayers are discussed, and in later chapters the topics of adsorption from solution and of gas adsorption are considered. Irrespective of the experimental compartmentation, the conclusions as to the nature of mobile adsorbed films, that is, their structure and equations of state, will tend to be of a general validity. Thus, only a limited discussion of Gibbs monolayers has been given here, and none of such related aspects as the contact potentials of solutions or of adsorption at liquid-liquid interfaces, as it is more efficient to treat these topics later. 

Equation V-64 is that of a parabola, and electrocapillary curves are indeed approximately parabolic in shape. Because E ax tmd 7 max very nearly the same for certain electrolytes, such as sodium sulfate and sodium carbonate, it is generally assumed that specific adsorption effects are absent, and Emax is taken as a constant (-0.480 V) characteristic of the mercury-water interface. For most other electrolytes there is a shift in the maximum voltage, and is then taken to be Emax 0.480. Some values for the quantities are given in Table V-5 [113]. Much information of this type is due to Gouy [125], although additional results are to be found in most of the other references cited in this section. 

Evidence for two-dimensional condensation at the water-Hg interface is reviewed by de Levie [135]. Adsorption may also be studied via differential capacity data where the interface is modeled as parallel capacitors, one for the Hg-solvent interface and another for the Hg-adsorbate interface [136, 137]. 

SHG Optical second-harmonic generation [95, 96] A high-powered pulsed laser generates frequency-doubled response due to the asymmetry of the interface Adsorption and surface coverage rapid surface changes... 

There is always some degree of adsorption of a gas or vapor at the solid-gas interface for vapors at pressures approaching the saturation pressure, the amount of adsorption can be quite large and may approach or exceed the point of monolayer formation. This type of adsorption, that of vapors near their saturation pressure, is called physical adsorption-, the forces responsible for it are similar in nature to those acting in condensation processes in general and may be somewhat loosely termed van der Waals forces, discussed in Chapter VII. The very large volume of literature associated with this subject is covered in some detail in Chapter XVII. 

Ruch and Bartell [84], studying the aqueous decylamine-platinum system, combined direct estimates of the adsorption at the platinum-solution interface with contact angle data and the Young equation to determine a solid-vapor interfacial energy change of up to 40 ergs/cm due to decylamine adsorption. Healy (85) discusses an adsorption model for the contact angle in surfactant solutions and these aspects are discussed further in Ref. 86. 

An interesting question that arises is what happens when a thick adsorbed film (such as reported at for various liquids on glass [144] and for water on pyrolytic carbon [135]) is layered over with bulk liquid. That is, if the solid is immersed in the liquid adsorbate, is the same distinct and relatively thick interfacial film still present, forming some kind of discontinuity or interface with bulk liquid, or is there now a smooth gradation in properties from the surface to the bulk region This type of question seems not to have been studied, although the answer should be of importance in fluid flow problems and in formulating better models for adsorption phenomena from solution (see Section XI-1). 

The Solid-Liquid Interface—Adsorption from Solution... 

The adsorption of nonelectrolytes at the solid-solution interface may be viewed in terms of two somewhat different physical pictures. In the first, the adsorption is confined to a monolayer next to the surface, with the implication that succeeding layers are virtually normal bulk solution. The picture is similar to that for the chemisorption of gases (see Chapter XVIII) and arises under the assumption that solute-solid interactions decay very rapidly with distance. Unlike the chemisorption of gases, however, the heat of adsorption from solution is usually small it is more comparable with heats of solution than with chemical bond energies. 

Of particular interest has been the study of the polymer configurations at the solid-liquid interface. Beginning with lattice theories, early models of polymer adsorption captured most of the features of adsorption such as the loop, train, and tail structures and the influence of the surface interaction parameter (see Refs. 57, 58, 62 for reviews of older theories). These lattice models have been expanded on in recent years using modem computational methods [63,64] and have allowed the calculation of equilibrium partitioning between a poly-... 

There is a number of very pleasing and instructive relationships between adsorption from a binary solution at the solid-solution interface and that at the solution-vapor and the solid-vapor interfaces. The subject is sufficiently specialized, however, that the reader is referred to the general references and, in particular, to Ref. 153. Finally, some studies on the effect of high pressure (up to several thousand atmospheres) on binary adsorption isotherms have been reported [154]. Quite appreciable effects were found, indicating that significant partial molal volume changes may occur on adsorption. 

Fig. XI-13. Adsorption isotherms for SNBS (sodium p-3-nonylbenzene sulfonate) (pH 4.1) and DPC (dodecyl pyridinium chloride) (pH 8.0) on mtile at approximately the same surface potential and NaCl concentration of O.OlAf showing the four regimes of surfactant adsorption behavior, from Ref. 175. [Reprinted with permission from Luuk K. Koopal, Ellen M. Lee, and Marcel R. Bohmer, J. Colloid Interface Science, 170, 85-97 (1995). Copyright Academic Press.]...

G. J. Fleer and J. Lyklema, Adsorption from Solution at the Solid/Liquid Interface, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1983, Chapter 4, pp. 153-220. 

D. W. Dwight, M. E. Counts, and J. P. Wightman, Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. ni. Adsorption, Catalysis, Solid Surfaces, Wetting, Surface Tension, and Water, Academic, New York, 1976, p. 143. 

Thus, adding surfactants to minimize the oil-water and solid-water interfacial tensions causes removal to become spontaneous. On the other hand, a mere decrease in the surface tension of the water-air interface, as evidenced, say, by foam formation, is not a direct indication that the surfactant will function well as a detergent. The decrease in yow or ysw implies, through the Gibb s equation (see Section III-5) adsorption of detergent. 

The adsorption of detergent-type molecules on fabrics and at the solid-solution interface in general shows a complexity that might be mentioned briefly. Some fairly characteristic data are shown in Fig. XlIl-15 [242]. There is a break at point A, marking a sudden increase in slope, followed by a maximum in the amount adsorbed. The problem is that if such data represent true equilibrium in a two-component system, it is possible to argue a second law violation (note Problem Xni-14) (although see Ref. 243). 

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