Nonlinear viscoelasticity of sorbitan tristearate monolayers at liquid/gas interface

The interfacial rheology of sorbitan tristearate monolayers formed at the liquid/air interface reveal a distinct nonlinear viscoelastic behavior under oscillatory shear usually observed in many 3D metastable complex fluids with large structural relaxation times. At large strain amplitudes (gamma), the storage modulus (G') decreases monotonically whereas the loss modulus (G '') exhibits a peak above a critical strain amplitude before it decreases at higher strain amplitudes. The power law decay exponents of G' and G '' are in the ratio 2:1. The peak in G '' is absent at high temperatures and low concentration of sorbitan tristearate. Strain-rate frequency sweep measurements on the monolayers do indicate a strain-rate dependence on the structural relaxation time. The present study on sorbitan tristearate monolayers clearly indicates that the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior in 2D Langmuir monolayers is more general and exhibits many of the features observed in 3D complex fluids.