Adaptation of bulk constitutive equations to insoluble monolayer collapse at the air-water interface.

A constitutive equation based on stress-strain models of bulk solids was adapted to relate the surface pressure, compression rate, and temperature of an insoluble monolayer of monodendrons during collapse at the air-water interface. A power law relation between compression rate and surface pressure and an Arrhenius temperature dependence of the steady-state creep rate were observed in data from compression rate and creep experiments in the collapse region. These relations were combined into a single constitutive equation to calculate the temperature dependence of the collapse pressure with a maximum error of 5 percent for temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 25 degrees C.