Designated Drivers: The Differing Roles of Divalent Metal Ions in Surfactant Adsorption at the Oil-Water Interface

Divalent metal ions play numerous roles in biological, technological, and environmental systems. This study examines the role of a variety of ions, Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+, in the adsorption of sodium decanoate at the carbon tetrachloride-water interface. For all ions studied, the ions drive the adsorption of the surfactant to the interface. Using vibrational sum-frequency spectroscopy and the carboxylic acid vibrational modes as a signature for metal ion binding, each metal salt is found to play a distinctly different role in the molecular characteristics of surfactant adsorption at the interface. Additional spectroscopic studies of the methyl and methylene vibrations are monitored to track the ordering of the alkyl chains when metal salts are added to solution. How the metal-surfactant binding impacts the surfactant structure, orientation, and solvation is explored. How these spectroscopic measurements compare with the degree of adsorption as measured by interfacial tension data is presented.