Surface tension ring method

For examination of slow changes in the tension of an exposed surface the ring method is perhaps the best, and the use of du Nouy s tensi-meter, with the corrections of Harkins and Jordan, gives fairly accurate results. 

The detachment of a ring or a plate (a Wilhelmy plate) from the surface of a liquid or solution is a static surface tension measurement method, which gives the detachment force of a film of the liquid and its extension from the liquid surface. These methods are less accurate than the capillary rise method, but they are normally employed in most surface laboratories because of their ease and rapidity. 

Several convenient ways to measure surface tension involve the detachment of a solid from the liquid surface. These include the measurement of the weight in a drop falling from a capillary and the force to detach a ring, wire, or thin plate from the surface of a liquid. In this section we briefly describe these methods and their use. 

A method that has been rather widely used involves the determination of the force to detach a ring or loop of wire from the surface of a liquid. It is generally attributed to du Noiiy [42]. As with all detachment methods, one supposes that a first approximation to the detachment force is given by the surface tension multiplied by the periphery of the surface detached. Thus, for a ring, as illustrated in Fig. II-ll,... 

FIG. 1 Influence of pH on the surface tension of some alkyl ether carboxylic acids. (Concentration 1 g/1, Ring method.) (From Ref. 57.)... 

The CMC of commercial AOS and other surfactants at 40°C has been determined by Gafa and Lattanzi [6] who plotted the surface tension of aqueous surfactant solutions against concentration. The surface tensions were determined with the ring method according to du Nouy. Table 5 gives their CMC values in mmol/L and the surface tension at the CMC in mN/m. Table 5 also contains CMC values of isomerically pure sodium alkyl sulfates, sodium alkylbenzene-sulfonates, sodium hydroxyalkanesulfonate, and sodium alkenesulfonates at 40°C, taken from the literature [39 and references cited therein]. 

The Wilhelmy plate method provides an extremely simple approach that, unlike the ring detachment method, permits the measurement of continuously varying or dynamic surface tensions. If a thin plate (e.g., a microscope slide, a strip of platinum foil, or even a slip of filter paper) is attached to a microbalance and suspended so that its lower edge is just immersed in a liquid, the measured apparent weight Wj, is related to the actual weight of the plate Wp and the surface tension y by the following simple equation ... 

However, the advantage of the former over the latter method consists in that it makes it possible to choose the most convenient form and size of the body (platinum rod, ring, or plate) so as to enable the measurement to be carried out rapidly but without any detriment to its accuracy. The detachment method has found an application in the case of liquids whose surface tensions change with time. 

There are numerous other methods for measuring surface tension that we do not discuss here. These include (a) the measurement of the maximum pressure beyond which an inert gas bubble formed at the tip of a capillary immersed in a liquid breaks away from the tip (the so-called maximum bubble-pressure method) (b) the so-called drop-weight method, in which drops of a liquid (in a gas or in another liquid) formed at the tip of a capillary are collected and weighed and (c) the ring method, in which the force required to detach a ring or a loop of wire is measured. In all these cases, the measured quantities can be related to the surface tension of the liquid through simple equations. The basic concepts involved in these methods do not differ significantly from what we cover in this chapter. The experimental details may be obtained from Adamson (1990). 

Sharma, R. R. 1963. Determination of surface tension of milk by the drop method and the ring method. Ind. J. Dairy Sci. 16, 101-108. 

This unit will introduce two fundamental protocols—the Wilhelmy plate method (see Basic Protocol 1 and Alternate Protocol 1) and the du Noiiy ring method (see Alternate Protocol 2)—that can be used to determine static interfacial tension (Dukhin et al., 1995). Since the two methods use the same experimental setup, they will be discussed together. Two advanced protocols that have the capability to determine dynamic interfacial tension—the drop volume technique (see Basic Protocol 2) and the drop shape method (see Alternate Protocol 3)—will also be presented. The basic principles of each of these techniques will be briefly outlined in the Background Information. Critical Parameters as well as Time Considerations for the different tests will be discussed. References and Internet Resources are listed to provide a more in-depth understanding of each of these techniques and allow the reader to contact commercial vendors to obtain information about costs and availability of surface science instrumentation. 

The choice between the static methods (Wilhelmy plate method and the du Noiiy ring method) should primarily be based on the properties of the system being studied, in particular, the surfactant. As mentioned in UNITD3.5, the transport of surfactant molecules from the bulk to the surface requires a finite amount of time. Since static interfacial tension measurements do not yield information about the true age of the interface, it is conceivable that the measured interfacial tension values may not correspond to equilibrium interfacial tension values (i.e., the exchange of molecules between the bulk and the interface has not yet reached full equilibrium and the interfacial tension values are therefore not static). If the surfactant used in the experiment adsorbs within a few seconds, which is the case for small-molecule surfactants, then both the Wilhelmy plate method and the du Noiiy ring method are adequate. If the adsorption of a surfactant requires more time to reach full equilibrium, then the measurement should not be conducted until the interfacial tension values have stabilized. Since interfacial tension values are continuously displayed with... 

As in Basic Protocol 1, the steps below describe determination of interfacial tension for a liguid/gas interface (i.e., a sample consisting of a single surface-active solution). Although it is very difficult, the ring method can also be used to determine the interfacial tension between two liquid phases (for modifications see Alternate Protocol 1). 

The Wilhelmy plate and du Noiiy ring methods provide a single value for surface tension of a given surfactant at a given concentration. Examples are provided in unitd3.5 (see Figure D3.5.5). Examples of dynamic surface tension values are also provided in unitd3.5. 

Provides measuring techniques of contact angle, surface tension, interfacial tension, and bubble pressure. Suitable methods for both static and dynamic inteifacial tension of liquids include du Nous ring, Wilhelmy plate, spinning drop, pendant drop, bubble pressure, and drop volume techniques. Methods for solids include sessile drop, dynamic Wilhelmy, single fiber, and powder contact angle techniques. 

The liquid media that are most germane to studies on interactions between cells and/or biopolymers are blood plasma and serum. A closer investigation into the surface tensions of blood plasma and serum thus seems essential. As early as 1913 the surface tension of human blood serum at 37°C was reported as 45.4 dyn/cm (measured by the falling-drop method) (8). More recently, Lewin (using platinum ring torsiome-try) found values of 47.8 and 50.5 dyn/cm at 37°C and 20°C re-... 

Important techniques to measure the surface tension of liquids are the sessile drop method, the pendant or sessile bubble method, the Du-Notiy ring tensiometer, and the Wilhelmy-plate method. 

For foams, it is the surface tension of the foaming solution that is usually of most interest. For this, the most commonly used methods are the du Noiiy ring, Wilhelmy plate, drop weight or volume, pendant drop, and the maximum bubble pressure method. For suspensions it is again usually the surface tension of the continuous phase that is of most interest, with the same methods being used in most cases. Some work has also been done on the surface tension of the overall suspension itself using, for example, the du Noiiy ring and maximum bubble pressure methods (see Section 3.2.4). 

Figure 3.8 Illustrations of the Wilhelmy plate (upper) and du Nouy ring (lower) surface tension methods. Both illustrations are for wetting contact angles.

The du Noiiy ring surface tension method involves slowly raising a platinum ring through a liquid until it detaches from the surface (Figure 3.8, Lower). The force at the point of detachment is measured using a balance or torsion wire. If F is the force on the ring,... 

The changes in the culture s surface tension were evaluated by the ring Du Nouy method (29) using a SIGMA70 system unit (KSV Instruments, Trumbull, CT) tensiometer. Measurements were performed at 25°C. The decrease in surface tension was used as a qualitative measurement of surfactant concentration and a quantitative indicator of efficiency. 

A number of methods are available for the measurement of surface and interfacial tension of liquid systems. Surface tension of liquids is determined by static and dynamic surface tension methods. Static surface tension characterises the surface tension of the liquid in equilibrium and the commonly used measurement methods are Du Notiy ring, Wilhelmy plate, spinning drop and pendant drop. Dynamic surface tension determines the surface tension as a function of time and the bubble pressure method is the most common method used for its determination. 

ISO Standard 4311. Determination of the critical micelle concentration method by measuring surface tension with a plate, stirrup or ring. 

The Wilhelmy plate method, as shown in Figure 4.10, is similar to du Nouy s ring method, but it uses a thin mica plate or microscope slide. The plate is suspended from a balance and dips into the liquid. The force, F, required to detach the liquid meniscus surrounding the plate depends on the surface tension or interfacial tension by ... 

There are static and dynamic methods. The static methods measure the tension of practically stationary surfaces which have been formed for an appreciable time, and depend on one of two principles. The most accurate depend on the pressure difference set up on the two sides of a curved surface possessing surface tension (Chap. I, 10), and are often only devices for the determination of hydrostatic pressure at a prescribed curvature of the liquid these include the capillary height method, with its numerous variants, the maximum bubble pressure method, the drop-weight method, and the method of sessile drops. The second principle, less accurate, but very often convenient because of its rapidity, is the formation of a film of the liquid and its extension by means of a support caused to adhere to the liquid temporarily methods in this class include the detachment of a ring or plate from the surface of any liquid, and the measurement of the tension of soap solutions by extending a film. 

RH and at 25°C. using the sessile drop method. Surface tensions were measured at 25°C. using the duNouy ring method. Unless otherwise noted in the text, the contact angles were reproducible to 2° and the critical surface tensions to 0.5 dynes/cm. 

Ring method — Method to determine the - interfacial tension in liquid-gas systems introduced by Lecomte du Noiiy [i]. It is based on measuring the force to detach a ring or loop of a wire from the surface of a liquid. The method is similar to the -> Wilhelmyplate method when used in the detachment mode [ii]. See also -> electrocapillarity, -r electrocapillary curve, -> Gibbs-Lippmann equation, - Wilhelmy plate (slide) method, - drop weight method, - Lippmann capillary electrometer. 

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