The Effect of Curvature on lnterfacial Tension in Liquid Systems Measured by Homogeneous Nucleation

Interfacial tensions were measured as a function of the curvature of the interface in liquid ternary, two-phase systems at 25 °c. The systems were chosen so that the phase on the concave side of the interface ( = the inner phase = the droplet) consisted mainly of one of the components. When this compound is a nonpolar or polar, non-hydrogen bonding liquid the interfacial tension is almost independent of curvature, but when the inner phase is a hydrogen bonding liquid the interfacial tension a varies with the radius of curvature. The experimental method consisted in determining the time taken for a supersaturated solution to become turbid, this time being of the order of 1 millisecond