Surface excesses

The type of behavior shown by the ethanol-water system reaches an extreme in the case of higher-molecular-weight solutes of the polar-nonpolar type, such as, soaps and detergents [91]. As illustrated in Fig. Ul-9e, the decrease in surface tension now takes place at very low concentrations sometimes showing a point of abrupt change in slope in a y/C plot [92]. The surface tension becomes essentially constant beyond a certain concentration identified with micelle formation (see Section XIII-5). The lines in Fig. III-9e are fits to Eq. III-57. The authors combined this analysis with the Gibbs equation (Section III-SB) to obtain the surface excess of surfactant and an alcohol cosurfactant. 

With the preceding introduction to the handling of surface excess quantities, we now proceed to the derivation of the third fundamental equation of surface chemistry (the Laplace and Kelvin equations, Eqs. II-7 and III-18, are the other two), known as the Gibbs equation. 

A schematic picture of how concentrations might vary across a liquid-vapor interface is given in Fig. III-ll. The convention indicated by superscript 1, that is, the F = 0 is illustrated. The dividing line is drawn so that the two areas shaded in full strokes are equal, and the surface excess of the solvent is thus zero. The area shaded with dashed strokes, which lies to the right of the dividing... 

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). 

A quite different means for the experimental determination of surface excess quantities is ellipsometry. The technique is discussed in Section IV-3D, and it is sufficient to note here that the method allows the calculation of the thickness of an adsorbed film from the ellipticity produced in light reflected from the film covered surface. If this thickness, t, is known, F may be calculated from the relationship F = t/V, where V is the molecular volume. This last may be estimated either from molecular models or from the bulk liquid density. 

It was noted in connection with Eq. III-56 that molecular dynamics calculations can be made for a liquid mixture of rare gas-like atoms to obtain surface tension versus composition. The same calculation also gives the variation of density for each species across the interface [88], as illustrated in Fig. Ill-13b. The density profiles allow a calculation, of course, of the surface excess quantities. 

It has been pointed out [138] that algebraically equivalent expressions can be derived without invoking a surface solution model. Instead, surface excess as defined by the procedure of Gibbs is used, the dividing surface always being located so that the sum of the surface excess quantities equals a given constant value. This last is conveniently taken to be the maximum value of F. A somewhat related treatment was made by Handa and Mukeijee for the surface tension of mixtures of fluorocarbons and hydrocarbons [139]. 

Tajima and co-workers [108] determined the surface excess of sodium dode-cyl sulfate by means of the radioactivity method, using tritiated surfactant of specific activity 9.16 Ci/mol. The area of solution exposed to the detector was 37.50 cm. In a particular experiment, it was found that with 1.0 x 10" Af surfactant the surface count rate was 17.0 x 10 counts per minute. Separate calibration showed that of this count was 14.5 X 10 came from underlying solution, the rest being surface excess. It was also determined that the counting efficiency for surface material was 1.1%. Calculate F for this solution. 

An adsorption isotherm known as the Temkin equation [149] has the form tt = ofF /F where a is a constant and F" is the limiting surface excess for a close-packed... 

McBain reports the following microtome data for a phenol solution. A solution of 5 g of phenol in 1000 g of water was skimmed the area skimmed was 310 cm and a 3.2-g sample was obtained. An interferometer measurement showed a difference of 1.2 divisions between the bulk and the scooped-up solution, where one division corresponded to 2.1 X 10 g phenol per gram of water concentration difference. Also, for 0.05, 0.127, and 0.268M solutions of phenol at 20°C, the respective surface tensions were 67.7, 60.1, and 51.6 dyn/cm. Calculate the surface excess Fj from (a) the microtome data, (b) for the same concentration but using the surface tension data, and (c) for a horizontally oriented monolayer of phenol (making a reasonable assumption as to its cross-sectional area). 

The surface tension of an aqueous solution varies with the concentration of solute according to the equation y = 72 - 350C (provided that C is less than 0.05Af). Calculate the value of the constant k for the variation of surface excess of solute with concentration, where k is defined by the equation V = kC. The temperature is 25°C. 

The treatments that are concerned in more detail with the nature of the adsorbed layer make use of the general thermodynamic framework of the derivation of the Gibbs equation (Section III-5B) but differ in the handling of the electrochemical potential and the surface excess of the ionic species [114-117]. The derivation given here is after that of Grahame and Whitney [117]. Equation III-76 gives the combined first- and second-law statements for the surface excess quantities... 

The surface excess per square centimeter F is just n/E, where n is the moles adsorbed per gram and E is the specific surface area. By means of the Gibbs equation (111-80), one can write the relationship... 

We suppose that the Gibbs dividing surface (see Section III-5) is located at the surface of the solid (with the implication that the solid itself is not soluble). It follows that the surface excess F, according to this definition, is given by (see Problem XI-9)... 

Fig. XI-10. Isotherm of composition change or surface excess isotherm for the adsorption of (1) benzene and (2) n-heptane on Graphon. (From Ref. 141.)...

Surface heterogeneity may merely be a reflection of different types of chemisorption and chemisorption sites, as in the examples of Figs. XVIII-9 and XVIII-10. The presence of various crystal planes, as in powders, leads to heterogeneous adsorption behavior the effect may vary with particle size, as in the case of O2 on Pd [107]. Heterogeneity may be deliberate many catalysts consist of combinations of active surfaces, such as bimetallic alloys. In this last case, the surface properties may be intermediate between those of the pure metals (but one component may be in surface excess as with any solution) or they may be distinctly different. In this last case, one speaks of various effects ensemble, dilution, ligand, and kinetic (see Ref. 108 for details). 

Equation 9 states that the surface excess of solute, F, is proportional to the concentration of solute, C, multipHed by the rate of change of surface tension, with respect to solute concentration, d /dC. The concentration of a surfactant ia a G—L iaterface can be calculated from the linear segment of a plot of surface tension versus concentration and similarly for the concentration ia an L—L iaterface from a plot of iaterfacial teasioa. la typical appHcatioas, the approximate form of the Gibbs equatioa was employed to calculate the area occupied by a series of sulfosucciaic ester molecules at the air—water iaterface (8) and the energies of adsorption at the air-water iaterface for a series of commercial aonionic surfactants (9). 

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