A Multistate Adsorption Model for the Characterization of C13DMPO Adsorption Layers at the Aqueous Solution/Air Interface.

Experimental data for tridecyl dimethyl phosphine oxide (C13DMPO) adsorption layers at the water/air interface, including equilibrium surface tension and surface dilational viscoelasticity, are measured by bubble and drop profile analysis tensiometry at different solution concentrations and surface area oscillation frequencies. The results are used to assess the applicability of a multistate model with more than two possible adsorption states. For the experiments with single drops, the depletion of surfactant molecules due to adsorption at the drop surface is taken into account. For the assessment, the same set of model parameters is used for the description of all obtained experimental dependencies. The agreement between the proposed model and the experimental data shows that for the nonionic surfactant C13DMPO, the description of the adsorption layer behavior by three adsorption states is superior to that with only two adsorption states.