Temperature dependence of surface tension in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions
Abstract
We report measurements of the surface tension of aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions at sixteen concentrations from 0.17 to 43mM, spanning 0.02 to 5 times the room-temperature critical micelle concentration (cmc), and at temperatures from 26 to 83∘C, using the Wilhelmy plate method. At the lowest concentration the surface tension decreases with temperature, as it does for pure water. Above about 0.4mM, however, it increases: the temperature coefficient changes sign at a concentration of 0.3 to 0.8mM, roughly a tenth of the cmc, and reaches +0.53 mN m−1 K−1 near 3mM, three times the magnitude of that of pure water and of the opposite sign. Above the cmc the surface tension is nearly independent of temperature, saturating at 35.2±0.3 mN m−1. The behavior cannot be attributed to the temperature dependence of the cmc, which is an order of magnitude too weak. It is instead consistent with a surfactant layer that thins as the temperature rises. The results imply that the sign and magnitude of thermocapillary stresses in SDS solutions can be selected through the concentration.
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BibTeX
@misc{lee2026temperature,
title = {{Temperature dependence of surface tension in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions}},
author = {Jong Cheon Lee and Ildoo Kim},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.00532},
eprint = {2610.00532},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00532},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Temperature dependence of surface tension in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions
AU - Jong Cheon Lee
AU - Ildoo Kim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.00532
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.00532
AB - We report measurements of the surface tension of aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate solutions at sixteen concentrations from 0.17 to 43mM, spanning 0.02 to 5 times the room-temperature critical micelle concentration (cmc), and at temperatures from 26 to 83^∘C, using the Wilhelmy plate method. At the lowest concentration the surface tension decreases with temperature, as it does for pure water. Above about 0.4mM, however, it increases: the temperature coefficient changes sign at a concentration of 0.3 to 0.8mM, roughly a tenth of the cmc, and reaches +0.53 mN m^−1 K^−1 near 3mM, three times the magnitude of that of pure water and of the opposite sign. Above the cmc the surface tension is nearly independent of temperature, saturating at 35.2±0.3 mN m^−1. The behavior cannot be attributed to the temperature dependence of the cmc, which is an order of magnitude too weak. It is instead consistent with a surfactant layer that thins as the temperature rises. The results imply that the sign and magnitude of thermocapillary stresses in SDS solutions can be selected through the concentration.
ER -