Molecular interaction in binary surfactant mixtures containing alkyl polyglycoside.

Surface tensions were measured for several binary mixtures of a multidegree polymerized alkyl polyglycoside, C12G1.46' with different types of surfactants in 0.1 M NaCl at 25 degrees C. Based on regular solution theory, using a dimensional crystal model and a phase separation model, the molecule exchange energy in mixed monolayer formation (epsilon) and mixed micellization (epsilon(m)) were determined. Surfactants used in the mixtures with C12G1.46 in this study are C12E3S (trioxyethylenated dodecyl sulfonate), C12TAC (dodecyl trimethylammonium chloride), BE-6 (hexaoxyethylenated trisiloxane surfactant), and TMN-6 (hexaoxyethylenated-2,6,8-trimethylnonanol). The mixtures show exchange energy in mixed monolayer formation (epsilon) and mixed micellization (epsilon(m)) ranging from -660 to -1410 J/mol, indicating a decrease in surface energy upon mixing. The decreases in surface energy are in the order C12G1.46/C12E3S > C12G1.46/C12TAC, C12G1.46/C12TAC > C12G2/C12TAC and C12G1.46/BE-6 > C12G1.46/TMN-6. The ability of the mixed monolayer formation relative to the mixed micelle formation of the same binary mixture, measured by the (epsilon-epsilon(m)) values, is in the order C12G1.46/BE-6 > C12G1.46/TMN-6 > C12G1.46/C12E3S-->0 > C12G1.46/C12TAC.

The adsorption and dissociation of O2 on Cu low-index surfaces.

The extended LEPS of O(2)-Cu single crystal plane systems is constructed by means of 5-MP (the 5-parameter Morse potential). Both the adsorption and dissociation of O(2) on Cu low-index surfaces are investigated with extended LEPS in detail. All critical characteristics of the system that we obtain, such as adsorption geometry, binding energy, eigenvalues for vibration, etc., are in good agreement with the experimental results. Our calculated results suggest there are many differences between O(2)-Cu (110) and O(2)-Pd (110) systems. On a Cu (110) surface, O(2) adsorbs in a tilted configuration and there are two lowest energy dissociation channels along the [001] and [10] directions, respectively. We speculate that the adsorption geometry of O(2) on the metal surfaces relates to the lattice constant of metal. Meanwhile, We use the concepts of the molecular dissociation limit and the surface dissociation distance to analyze again the dissociation mechanism of the O(2) on the low-index surfaces.

Adsorption, vibration, and diffusion of O atoms on Rh low-index and (711) stepped defective surfaces.

The adsorption, vibration, and diffusion of O atoms on Rh(100), Rh(111), Rh(110), and Rh(711) surfaces were studied using the 5-parameter Morse potential (5-MP) of interaction between an adatom and a metal surface cluster. Our theoretical calculations provide information about adsorption sites, adsorption geometry, binding energy, and eigenvibration. Our results agreed very well with experimental results. Four major results follow. First, the theoretical calculation showed that on the Rh(100) surface the 4-fold hollow site is the only adsorption site. Second, on the O-Rh(111) system, the 3-fold hollow site is the stable adsorption site. Third, on the Rh(110) surface at low coverage, the O atom is adsorbed preferably on the pseudo-3-fold site, while with increasing coverage, the O atom is adsorbed not only on the pseudo-3-fold site but also on the long bridge site. Last, as for the Rh(711) stepped surface, the 3-fold site on the (111) step is metastable, whereas the 4-fold sites on the (100) terrace are stable, which enables the O atoms to diffuse easily from the 3-fold to the 4-fold site at low coverage. Therefore, the O atoms are adsorbed preferrably on the stable 4-fold sites of the (100) terrace and then later as coverage increases on the metastable 3-fold site of the (110) step.