Adsorption kinetics of proteins at the solution/air interfaces with controlled bulk convection

The adsorption kinetics of β-casein, β-lactoglobulin and HSA is studied at solution/gas interface with and without forced convection. It is shown that, in spite of a significant difference in the adsorption rates for these two experiments by one order of magnitude, the equilibrium surface tension values are virtually the same. This leads to the conclusion about the thermodynamic reversibility of protein adsorption at the solution/gas interface, in contrast to the kinetic irreversibility of the process.