Test No. 115
Subtitle: Surface Tension of Aqueous Solutions
By: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Series: OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals, Section 1
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Paris
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
ISBN-13: 9789264069787
Subjects: Ecology; Euthenics; Nature and nurture; Adaptation (Biology)
Description: This Test Guideline describes methods to determine the surface tension (in N/m) of aqueous solutions. The methods are based on the measurement of the force which it is necessary to exert vertically on a stirrup or ring, in contact with the surface of the liquid, in order to separate it from the surface, or on a plate, with an edge in contact with the surface, in order to draw up the film that has formed.There are four different methods: the plate method, the stirrup method, the ring method and the OECD harmonized ring method. They are described in detail in the ISO Standard 304-1985. The methods described are applicable to aqueous solutions of most substances regardless of their degree of purity. The concentration should be 90% of the saturation solubility, but must below 1g/l. This shall therefore be carried out under a protective cover to avoid interference at 20°C approximately. The ring is immersed below the surface of the solution. Then the table top, where the measurement vessel is placed, is lowered gradually and evenly at a rate of approximately 0.5 cm/min to detach the ring from the surface until the maximum force is reached. The force is read on the tensiometer. After completing the first measurement, measurements are repeated until a constant surface tension value is reached.