Vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is demonstrated as a fast method to quantify variations of the electric double-layer potential Φ0 at liquid/gas interfaces. For that, mixed solutions of nonionic tetraethyleneglycol-monodecylether (C10E4) and cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C16TAB) surfactants were investigated using SFG spectroscopy and a thin-film-pressure-balance (TFPB). DLVO analysis of disjoining pressure isotherms obtained with the TFPB technique provides complementary information on Φ0, which we use to validate the results from SFG spectroscopy. By using a single Φ0-value we can disentangle χ(2) and χ(3) contributions to the O-H stretching modes of interfacial water molecules in the SFG spectra. Having established the latter, we show that unknown double-layer potentials at the liquid-gas interface of solutions with different C16TAB/ C10E4 mixing ratios can be obtained from an analysis of SFG spectra and are in excellent agreement with the complementary results from the TFPB technique.
1 October 2014 in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects