The influence of surface-active media on the mechanical properties of materials

This survey summarizes studies dealing with the influence of surface-active media on the mechanical behavior of materials that have been carried out at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the Department of Chemistry of Moscow State University and at the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University, and presented partially at the SIS Symposia. The phenomena of the environment-sensitive mechanical behavior take place for all kinds of solids under the effect of adsorption layers and due to the contact with liquid phases containing some specific components which are physically–chemically akin with respect to a given solid and cause lowering of the surface energy of the solid and weakening of the cohesive forces in the surface (interfacial) layer. Studies of these effects and their atomic-molecular mechanisms provide basis for control, prevention or utilization of these phenomena.