DYNAMIC SURFACE TENSIONS OF MICELLAR TRITON X-100 SOLUTIONS

Considering surfactant solutions at concentrations exceeding the CMC, another relaxation process besides diffusion occurs, also affecting the dynamic surface tension. The latter equilibration process concerns a micellisation/demicellisation process, representing the disintegration of micelles into monomers. The micellisation kinetics are accounted for by adding a single source term to the diffusion equation of the free monomers. In the present paper the integration of the diffusion equation is avoided by using the concept of the diffusion penetration depth. Nevertheless, when this approximation is made, good agreement is achieved between experiment and theory for micellar Triton X-100 solutions. Moreover, it follows that diffusion of micelles may not be neglected.