Influence of wettability on diffusion limited nanoparticle adsorption at gas-liquid interfaces - Dataset

Data related to study into the influence of hydrophobicity on particle adsorption by examining the behavior of hydrophobized silica particles at air-water interfaces. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) trough studies of butanol (‘SiO-butane’) and hexanol (‘SiO-hexane’) esterified particles provided contrasting behavior. The SiO-butane particles formed weaker particle layers that underwent partial collapse with compression, leading to formations significantly below hexagonal close-packed estimates. In contrast, the SiO-hexane particles exhibited improved monolayer behavior and longer-range stability. Droplet surface tensions demonstrated that the hydrophobic particles significantly altered the dynamic tension during adsorption, when methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) was added as a co-surfactant. Short-term modeling elucidated the role of diffusion and energy barriers on adsorption dynamics, with SiO-hexane having reduced diffusion coefficients with respect to SiO-butane and unmodified particles. Long-term modelling allowed calculation of specific adsorption rates.