Past exam of the MPhil in micro- and nanotechnology enterprise course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / Paper 1 / Section B / 10 / i / b

An amphiphile adsorbs at the oil–water interface, reducing the interfacial tension. At fixed drop radius and oil volume, $E_s(c)=A{\gamma }_{ow}(c)$ therefore falls with increasing concentration and tends toward a plateau once the interface is nearly saturated and further amphiphile mostly enters micelles. For an approximately ideal dilute nonionic surfactant, the Gibbs adsorption equation $d\gamma =-RT\Gamma d\ln a$ connects the fall in interfacial tension to positive surface excess $\Gamma$. Ionic systems require the appropriate counterion activities.

The critical micelle concentration gives the familiar break in a tension-versus-log-concentration curve, rather than a fall to zero interfacial energy. If mixing creates a different droplet size distribution as amphiphile is added, area also changes; a tension reduction alone does not determine the total interfacial energy. The plotted prediction holds area fixed.