Adsorption of ionic surfactants at the air-water interface: The gap between theory and experiment

We review the experimental and theoretical results for the adsorption and structure of ionic surfactants at the air-liquid interface. The results show that ionic surfactants form thick adsorption layers at the interfacial region. We also review several adsorption models for ionic surfactants, which become increasingly complex as they capture the many features of adsorption layers. However, the adsorption layer structures determined by experiments and the structures predicted by models do not match because most models assume very thin adsorption layers. We show the discrepancies between measured and predicted surface properties and provide several explanations. We conclude that the mismatch in the adsorption layer structure provided by experiments and the structure provided by adsorption models is the main reason for the discrepancies in the surface excess and the surface potential. [Display omitted] •Experiment shows thick adsorption layers of ionic surfactants.•Adsorption models fail to account for thick adsorption layers.•Discrepancies in experimental and predicted surface excess and potential