Study on Retardation of Water Evaporation by Single and Mixed Monolayers at Air/Water Surface

In order to investigate the retardation of water evaporation by single and mixed monolayers at air/water surface, surface pressure (pi)-time (t) isotherms, specific evaporation resistance (r)-temperature (T) curves had been used to describe the properties of monolayers made from single monolayers of 1-hexadecanol (C
₁₆
OH) and mixed monolayers of C
₁₆
OH and nonionic surfactants. The results showed that mixed monolayers exhibited considerably larger effective resistance to water evaporation and better anti-interference ability, in comparison with single monolayers. Also, microstructures of monolayers were investigated by an atomic force microscopy (AFM). From AFM images, it could been found that mixed monolayers gave a film with a less-defective and relatively flat surface.