Chemistry at Interfaces provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts in interfacial chemistry. It aims to provide students and research workers who have not had training in a school of surface chemistry with the means to set up and use interfacial techniques and to interpret measurements. For this reason, more emphasis is given to experimental details and to the associated pitfalls than most other books in the field.
The book begins by considering some of the basic laws governing behavior in chemical systems and how these apply to some examples of interfacial processes. This is followed by a discussion of two specific properties oSf interfaces: the tendency to concentrate reactants and the ability to orientate molecules, thus increasing their reactivity. Separate chapters cover standards of cleanliness in interfacial work and methods to achieve them; techniques for the study of interfacial films; the kinetics of physical processes that can occur at an interface; and chemical and biological processes and reactions. The final chapter provides an overview of the wide-ranging applications of interfacial chemistry to practical problems.