Numerical analysis of some problems involving surfactants
Talk by Prof. Dr. José R. Fernández García
Speaker invited by: Prof. Dr. Michel Chipot
Date: 31.05.12 Time: 16.00 - 17.00 Room: Y27H12
Abstract: The study of surfactant adsorption dynamics at the air-water interface has been revealed as a determinant issue for its application in areas such as biochemistry, medicine, agrochemistry, metallurgy, food processing and so on. A newly formed surface in a surfactant solution is accomplished with the incorporation of surfactant molecules to this surface, drastically reducing its surface tension. The analysis of the dynamic surface tension is then closely related to the transportation of molecules as a consequence of an adsorption-desorption mechanism from the bulk of the solution to the interface and vice versa. In this talk, several problems dealing with surfactants models, like Henry's isotherm, will be numerically studied, providing a priori error estimates from which the linear convergence will be concluded as well as some numerical results which will show the accuracy of the approximation and the behaviour of the solution.