Surface accumulation and acid–base equilibrium of phenol at the liquid–vapor interface

Abstract

We have investigated the surfactant properties of phenol in aqueous solution as a function of pH and bulk concentration using liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy (LJ-PES) and surface tension measurements. The emphasis of this work is on the determination of the Gibbs free energy of adsorption and surface excess of phenol and its conjugate base phenolate at the bulk pK_a (9.99), which can be determined for each species using photoelectron spectroscopy. These values are compared to those obtained in measurements well below and well above the pK_a, where pure phenol or phenolate, respectively, are the dominant species, and where the Gibbs free energy of adsorption determined from surface tension and LJ-PES data are in excellent agreement. At the bulk pK_a the surface-sensitive LJ-PES measurements show a deviation of the expected phenol/phenolate ratio in favor of phenol, i.e., an apparent upward shift of the at the surface. In addition, the Gibbs free energies of adsorption determined by LJ-PES at the bulk pK_a for phenol and phenolate deviate from those observed for the pure solutions. We discuss these observations in view of the different surface propensity of phenol and phenolate as well as potential cooperative interactions between them in the near-surface region.