(623g) The Effect of Pressure on Equilibrium Surfactant Thermodynamics

Surfactants are used in a wide variety of applications at extreme conditions such as oil recovery, novel synthesis techniques, and industrial cleaning. Currently there is a lack of understanding of how surfactant isotherms change as a function of pressure. In this study, we detail a novel high pressure microtensiometer setup developed to measure interfacial dynamics at the microscale for a variety of extreme conditions. We measure surfactant isotherms at the CO₂-water interface at varied pressures to examine the effect of pressure on the fundamental equilibrium thermodynamics of interfacial tension. This work leads to a better understanding of interfacial phenomena in extreme environments impacting development and design of many existing and novel processes in chemical engineering including oil and gas recovery.