Liquid surface chemistry

SURFACES constitute the boundaries of condensed matter, solids, and liquids. Surface chemistry explores the structure and composition of surfaces and the bonding and reactions of atoms and molecules on them. There are many macroscopic physical phenomena that occur on surfaces or are controlled by the electronic and physical properties of surfaces. These include heterogeneous catalysis, corrosion, crystal growth, evaporation, lubrication, adhesion, and integrated circuitry. Surface chemistry examines the science of these phenomena as well. 

In recent years, advances in experimental capabilities have fueled a great deal of activity in the study of the electrified solid-liquid interface. This has been the subject of a recent workshop and review article [145] discussing structural characterization, interfacial dynamics and electrode materials. The field of surface chemistry has also received significant attention due to many surface-sensitive means to interrogate the molecular processes occurring at the electrode surface. Reviews by Hubbard [146, 147] and others [148] detail the progress. In this and the following section, we present only a brief summary of selected aspects of this field. 

This chapter and the two that follow are introduced at this time to illustrate some of the many extensive areas in which there are important applications of surface chemistry. Friction and lubrication as topics properly deserve mention in a textbook on surface chemistiy, partly because these subjects do involve surfaces directly and partly because many aspects of lubrication depend on the properties of surface films. The subject of adhesion is treated briefly in this chapter mainly because it, too, depends greatly on the behavior of surface films at a solid interface and also because friction and adhesion have some interrelations. Studies of the interaction between two solid surfaces, with or without an intervening liquid phase, have been stimulated in recent years by the development of equipment capable of the direct measurement of the forces between macroscopic bodies. 

This chapter concludes our discussion of applications of surface chemistry with the possible exception of some of the materials on heterogeneous catalysis in Chapter XVIII. The subjects touched on here are a continuation of Chapter IV on surface films on liquid substrates. There has been an explosion of research in this subject area, and, again, we are limited to providing just an overview of the more fundamental topics. 

Spectroscopy is basically an experimental subject and is concerned with the absorption, emission or scattering of electromagnetic radiation by atoms or molecules. As we shall see in Chapter 3, electromagnetic radiation covers a wide wavelength range, from radio waves to y-rays, and the atoms or molecules may be in the gas, liquid or solid phase or, of great importance in surface chemistry, adsorbed on a solid surface. 

The formation of ordered two- and three-dimensional microstructuies in dispersions and in liquid systems has an influence on a broad range of products and processes. For example, microcapsules, vesicles, and liposomes can be used for controlled drug dehvery, for the contaimnent of inks and adhesives, and for the isolation of toxic wastes. In addition, surfactants continue to be important for enhanced oil recovery, ore beneficiation, and lubrication. Ceramic processing and sol-gel techniques for the fabrication of amorphous or ordered materials with special properties involve a rich variety of colloidal phenomena, ranging from the production of monodispersed particles with controlled surface chemistry to the thermodynamics and dynamics of formation of aggregates and microciystallites. 

The use of ordered supramolecular assemblies, such as micelles, monolayers, vesicles, inverted micelles, and lyotropic liquid crystalline systems, allows for the controlled nucleation of inorganic materials on molecular templates with well-defined structure and surface chemistry. Poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers modified with long aliphatic chains are a new class of amphiphiles which display a variety of aggregation states due to their conformational flexibility [38]. In the presence of octadecylamine, poly(propyleneimine) dendrimers modified with long alkyl chains self-assemble to form remarkably rigid and well-defined aggregates. When the aggregate dispersion was injected into a supersaturated... 

Voltaic Cells in Electrochemistry and Surface Chemistry of Liquids... 

The SHG technique is therefore a valuable probe for insight into the surface chemistry of liquid membrane ISEs. 

The Wilhelmy hanging plate method (13) has been used for many years to measure interfacial and surface tensions, but with the advent of computer data collection and computer control of dynamic test conditions, its utility has been greatly increased. The dynamic version of the Wilhelmy plate device, in which the liquid phases are in motion relative to a solid phase, has been used in several surface chemistry studies not directly related to the oil industry (14- 16). Fleureau and Dupeyrat (17) have used this technique to study the effects of an electric field on the formation of surfactants at oil/water/rock interfaces. The work presented here is concerned with reservoir wettability. 

Jarvis, N.L. and Zisman, W.A. "Surface Activity of Fluorinated Organic Compounds at Organic-Liquid/Air Interfaces Part II. Surface Tension vs Concentration Curves, Adsorption Isotherms, and Force-Area Isotherms for Partially Fluorinated Carboxylic Esters," Naval Research Labs Report 5364, Surface Chemistry Branch, Chemistry Division, October 8, 1959. 

Selective transfer of material in sub-microgram to milligram quantities between a solid sorbent and a liquid phase separations depend on different relative affinities for the two phases based on adsorption, size or charge selectivity achieved by pH control, solvent composition and surface chemistry of the sorbent. 

In flotation, all three states of matter - solid, liquid, gas - are involved and each of these involves surface chemistry. Among the various process steps that are involved are ... 

The fundamental physical chemistry of monolayers was worked out several decades ago by Langmuir, Harkins, Rideal, Adam, Schul-man, and others. In an excellent monograph, Gaines (38) has summarized the history and the state of knowledge up to 1966 of monolayers at air-liquid interfaces. Other good accounts of the subject can be found in several more general texts on surface chemistry (39-43). None, however, includes a discussion (or even a reference) to chirality in monolayers. 

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