A theoretical study on surfactant adsorption kinetics: effect of bubble shape on dynamic surface tension.

A planar or spherical fluid-liquid interface was commonly assumed on studying the surfactant adsorption kinetics for a pendant bubble in surfactant solutions. However, the shape of a pendant bubble deviates from a sphere unless the bubble's capillary constant is close to zero. Up to date, the literature has no report about the shape effect on the relaxation of surface tension due to the shape difference between a pendant bubble and a sphere. The dynamic surface tension (DST), based on the actual shape of a pendant bubble with a needle, of the diffusion-controlled process is simulated using a time-dependent finite element method in this work. The shape effect and the existence of a needle on DST are investigated. This numerical simulation resolves also the time-dependent bulk surfactant concentration. The depth of solution needed to satisfy the classical Ward-Tordai infinite-solution assumption was also studied. For a diffusion-controlled adsorption process, bubble shape and needle size are two major factors affecting the DST. The existence of a needle accelerates the bulk diffusion for a small bubble; however, the shape of a large pendant bubble decelerates the bulk diffusion. An example using this method on the DST data of C12E4 is illustrated at the end of this work.