Molecular dynamics investigation into the adsorption of oil–water–surfactant mixture on quartz

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been carried out to investigate the adsorption behavior of different surfactants–water–oil mixture on quartz surfaces. The effects of rhamnolipid, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate and sodium hexadecyl sulfonate on binding energy and radial distribution function (RDF) of oil–quartz are calculated at molecular level. The study shows that these surfactants can reduce binding energy between oil molecules and quartz surface, which plays a role of oil-displacing agent.