Partition and water/oil adsorption of some surfactants.

Adsorption isotherms have been determined at the water/oil interface for five biphasic systems involving surfactants (non-ionic and ionic) present in both phases at partition equilibrium. The systems studied were polyoxyethylene(23)lauryl ether (Brij35) in water/hexane and four ionic surfactants, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and a series of three tetraalkylammonium dodecylsulfate (TEADS, TPADS, and TBADS) in water/CH 2Cl 2. Interfacial tension measurements performed at the water/air and water/oil interfaces provided all the necessary information for the determination of the adsorption parameters by taking partition into account.

Association, partition, and surface activity in biphasic systems displaying relaxation oscillations.

Several biphasic systems giving rise to periodical Marangoni instability have been analyzed from the point of view of the physicochemical properties of the involved compounds. In each case, the compound at the origin of the oscillatory behavior has been identified: the reactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) for the CTAB/picric acid (PH) system and the product of reaction dodecyl sulfate tetraalkylammonium (TAADS) for the sodium dodecyl sulfate/tetraalkylammonium bromide (SDS/TAAB) system. The properties of the latter system have been varied progressively by increasing the chain length of the tetraalkylammonium ion.