Influence of Temperature on the Surface Tension of Triton Surfactant Solutions

Abstract

The surface tension of different Triton surfactants (X-100, X-405, and X-705) with or without adding sodium chloride was measured in the temperature range between 20 and 40°C using the maximum bubble pressure method. Rising temperature reduced the surface tension of Triton surfactants via disrupting the H-bonds between the ethylene oxide (EO) group and water. Increasing the number of the EO groups created the steeper thermal gradient of the surface tension. The data indicated that EO-water bonds are easier to be broken by rising temperature than the water–water H-bonds, with an entropy change of -0.535 J deg-1 per mole of EO. The presence of NaCl decreased the surface tension for all systems. However, NaCl produced a synergistic effect with surfactants on the surface tension.