Effect of pressure on the surface tension of water. Adsorption of low molecular weight gases on water at 25.deg.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in interest concerning bulk and surface properties of water. One area of research that has received comparatively little attention concerns the effect of pressure on the surface tension of water. This paper reports results obtained in measuring interfacial tension as a function of pressure for a number of gas-water systems at 25/sup 0/ using a capillary-rise method. The systems involving water with carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide were of particular interest, since it is known that on the one hand these gases are more soluble than expected in bulk water while on the other hand water is abnormally soluble in compressed CO2 and N2O, leading to the question of whether a corresponding anomaly is to be found with respect to adsorption at the interface of water with these 2 gases. (36 refs.)