Dilational rheology of adsorbed surfactant layers - role of the intrinsic two-dimensional compressibility

The frequency and concentration dependencies of the dilational elasticity and viscosity of adsorbed surfactant layers is yet not quantitatively understood. Especially at a surface coverage above 50% the measured high frequency limits of the elasticity pass typically a maximum or reach a plateau while classical models expect an exponential increase to very high values. The consideration of an intrinsic two-dimensional compressibility allows a much better description of experimental data. There are various surfactant systems discussed in literature following this new model. Although the impact of these interfacial characteristics on the dilational rheology is significant, the adsorption isotherm and equation of state change only slightly. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.