The role of fluid dynamics on compressed/expanded surfactant monolayers

A typical experiment to measure monolayer surface rheological properties consists of two parallel, slightly immersed, moving solid barriers that compress and expand a shallow liquid layer that contains the surfactant monolayer in its free surface. The area between the barriers controls the surfactant concentration, which is frequently assumed as spatially constant. In order to minimize the fluid dynamics and other non-equilibrium effects, the barriers motion is very slow. Nevertheless, the surfactant concentration dynamics exhibit some unexpected features such as irreversibility, suggesting that the motion is not slow enough. We present a long wave theory that takes into account the fluid dynamics in the bulk phase coupled to the free surface elevation. In addition, apparent irreversibility is also discussed that may result from artifacts associated with the menisci dynamics when surface tension is measured using a Wilhelmy plate. Instead, additional, purely chemical, non-equilibrium effects are ignored. Results from this theory are discussed for varying values of the parameters, which permit establishing specific predictions on experiments. On the other hand, these results compare fairly well with the available experimental observations, at least qualitatively. The overall conclusion is that the fluid dynamics should not be ignored in the analysis of these experimental devices. Published by AIP Publishing.