Adsorption of ethoxylated alkylphenol-formaldehyde polymeric surfactants at the aqueous solution-air interface

The adsorption behaviour of some ethoxylated alkylphenol–formaldehyde polymeric non‐ionic surfactants, at the aqueous solution–air interface, was investigated by measuring the surface tension (γ) as a function of concentration (C) at four temperatures. By applying the Gibbs adsorption equation to the γ versus C data, the adsorption isotherms of these polymeric surfactants were obtained. Surface concentration (Λ) of the investigated polymeric non‐ionics was found to increase with decreasing temperature and decreasing hydrophobic group (R) chain length, while varying the length of polyoxyethylene chain (%EO) appeared to have an insigificant effect. Effects of temperature, %EO and chain length R on the surface pressure (π) of the surfactant solutions were also investigated.