Effects of surfactants and electrolytes on chemical oscillation at a water/nitrobenzene interface investigated by quasi-elastic laser scattering method.

We used a time-resolved interfacial tension measurement method with quasi-elastic laser scattering to investigate the effects of electrolytes and various surfactants on the nonlinear dynamics of the chemical oscillation that occurred at a water/nitrobenzene interface when a surfactant was added to the interface through a capillary. For both cationic and anionic surfactants, an electrolyte in the water phase was required for slow desorption of the surfactant from the interface. In the absence of an electrolyte, repulsion between the polar head groups of the ionic surfactants hindered adsorption of the surfactant molecules at the interface, resulting in their rapid desorption. In contrast, the presence of an electrolyte induced adsorption of the surfactant ions by screening their charged polar heads. Zwitterionic and nonionic surfactants were also examined and we deduced that the salting out effect of the surfactant produced by the presence of an electrolyte results in strongly attractive interactions between the surfactant molecules and the water/nitrobenzene interface.