Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition

Ethanol is a common amphiphilic solvent often used in conjunction with water. However, despite its widespread use, key questions regarding the thickness and composition of molecules at the ethanol/water/air surface remain unclear. Recent thermodynamic analyses, Bagheri and co-authors (2016) and Sant...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hyde, Anita, Ohshio, M., Nguyen, C.V., Yusa, S.I., Yamada, N.L., Phan, Chi
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ELSEVIER 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79506
_version_ 1848764063798001664
author Hyde, Anita
Ohshio, M.
Nguyen, C.V.
Yusa, S.I.
Yamada, N.L.
Phan, Chi
author_facet Hyde, Anita
Ohshio, M.
Nguyen, C.V.
Yusa, S.I.
Yamada, N.L.
Phan, Chi
author_sort Hyde, Anita
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Ethanol is a common amphiphilic solvent often used in conjunction with water. However, despite its widespread use, key questions regarding the thickness and composition of molecules at the ethanol/water/air surface remain unclear. Recent thermodynamic analyses, Bagheri and co-authors (2016) and Santos and Reis (2018), indicated that the interfacial thickness is not constant. However, the interfacial thickness from these two analyses follows opposite trends. This study aims to provide a detailed description of the thickness and composition of the interfacial layer by combining neutron reflectivity (NR) experiments with rigorous molecular simulation. The interfacial composition was determined from molecular simulations and, in conjunction with the Gibbs excess concentration, used to calculate the interfacial thickness. It was found that the thickness decreased exponentially and reached a plateau of ~ 8.2 Å. The results confirm the trends obtained thermodynamically from surface tension. The study also provides a new theoretical framework to describe the interfacial layer of water/alcohol mixtures.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T11:13:24Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-79506
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:13:24Z
publishDate 2019
publisher ELSEVIER
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-795062021-06-16T06:48:59Z Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition Hyde, Anita Ohshio, M. Nguyen, C.V. Yusa, S.I. Yamada, N.L. Phan, Chi Science & Technology Physical Sciences Chemistry, Physical Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical Chemistry Physics Ethanol/water mixture Surface adsorption Neutron reflectivity MOLECULAR ARRANGEMENT WATER ALCOHOL ADSORPTION METHANOL TENSION Ethanol is a common amphiphilic solvent often used in conjunction with water. However, despite its widespread use, key questions regarding the thickness and composition of molecules at the ethanol/water/air surface remain unclear. Recent thermodynamic analyses, Bagheri and co-authors (2016) and Santos and Reis (2018), indicated that the interfacial thickness is not constant. However, the interfacial thickness from these two analyses follows opposite trends. This study aims to provide a detailed description of the thickness and composition of the interfacial layer by combining neutron reflectivity (NR) experiments with rigorous molecular simulation. The interfacial composition was determined from molecular simulations and, in conjunction with the Gibbs excess concentration, used to calculate the interfacial thickness. It was found that the thickness decreased exponentially and reached a plateau of ~ 8.2 Å. The results confirm the trends obtained thermodynamically from surface tension. The study also provides a new theoretical framework to describe the interfacial layer of water/alcohol mixtures. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79506 10.1016/j.molliq.2019.111005 English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ELSEVIER fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Physical
Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical
Chemistry
Physics
Ethanol/water mixture
Surface adsorption
Neutron reflectivity
MOLECULAR ARRANGEMENT
WATER
ALCOHOL
ADSORPTION
METHANOL
TENSION
Hyde, Anita
Ohshio, M.
Nguyen, C.V.
Yusa, S.I.
Yamada, N.L.
Phan, Chi
Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title_full Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title_fullStr Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title_full_unstemmed Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title_short Surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: Thickness and composition
title_sort surface properties of the ethanol/water mixture: thickness and composition
topic Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Physical
Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical
Chemistry
Physics
Ethanol/water mixture
Surface adsorption
Neutron reflectivity
MOLECULAR ARRANGEMENT
WATER
ALCOHOL
ADSORPTION
METHANOL
TENSION
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79506