Surfactants continuously exchange between bulk solution and interfaces. This process governs dynamic interfacial properties such as time-dependent surface tension, foam stability, and wetting. While equilibrium adsorption isotherms are routinely measured, the underlying desorption kinetics remain difficult to access experimentally, especially for fast-exchanging, low-molecular-weight surfactants. Here we use molecular dynamics simulations to quantify the residence times of short-chain alcohols at the air-water interface. We find that residence times increase exponentially with alkyl chain length and with surface coverage. Furthermore, we show that the residence time scales linearly with the adsorption coefficient, linking equilibrium binding affinity to kinetic persistence.
https://indico.ijs.si/event/4179/