Role of the surface polarization on the nucleation of Langmuir monolayers

We study the effect of the surface charge distribution on the nucleation of a Langmuir film at the air–water interface. We derive a system of equations that describes the electrostatic potential distribution throughout the system. The film is described by introducing excesses of the electrostatic displacement field as well as of the charge densities. We consider the thermodynamic and the mechanical stability of the liquid-condensed domain. The theory successfully describes the suppression of the nucleation process when the bulk electrolyte concentration increases.