Abstract
IT has been known for some time1,2 that the surface tension (air–liquid boundary) of aqueous solutions of long-chain compounds decreases slowly over a period of many days before an equilibrium value is reached. This slow decrease cannot be attributed to diffusion of the solute to the surface, for with the usual values of the diffusion coefficient the calculated time of the change should be a very small fraction (about 10-7–10-9) of the observed time1,3. With a solute in the aqueous phase, adsorbed at an oil/water boundary, the interfacial tension has been found to reach its equilibrium without a time-lag3, and it has been commonly assumed that interfacial tension (as distinct from surface tension) is not subject to this slow change.
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References
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Ward, A. F. H., and Tordai, L., J. Sci. Instrum., to appear shortly.
Andreas, J. M., Hauser, E. A., and Tucker, W. B., J. Phys. Chem., 42, 1001 (1938).
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WARD, A., TORDAI, L. Existence of Time-Dependence for Interfacial Tension of Solutions. Nature 154, 146–147 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154146b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154146b0
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