Photoacoustic Study of the Interaction Between Thin Oil Layers with Water

In the presented paper the structural changes in thin olive oil layers taking place as a result of interaction with water using a photoacoustic technique were studied. The oil layers were spread from a solution in a volatile solvent (ethyl ether) on the water and copper surface. These studies are a natural continuation of the previous work on a layered system performed within the light range (680 nm), which pointed to the irregularities of oil layers related to their thickness is now expanded to the infrared band. A structural irregularity was observed for a layer thickness of 100 μm, but it did not appear for the one of pure bulk oil. Signatures of irregularity were clearly observed in the phase plots whereas the amplitude dependences were not sensitive to them. The performed studies allowed one to relate the diversity of thermal parameters in the samples with structural changes found in oil layers originated from oil-water interactions.