Following the first publication, Pockels' studies of surface films accelerated. She continued to correspond with Lord Rayleigh. These communications emphasized her findings concerning the importance of purity and cleanliness of the equipment, including a recognition of difficulties in her own experimentation regarding previously unrecognized contamination.
Pockels pointed out that even airborne dust can affect results with her experimental apparatus. She recognized that impurities can affect reproducibility of experimental findings. Pockels developed a refined method of assessing monolayer films consisting of deposition of the compound on interest as a solution in benzene on the water surface in her sliding trough. Through this line of experimentation, she measured the thickness of certain monolayer films as being 13Å. With the aid of Lord Rayleigh, Pockelss second publication appeared in the journal Nature' in 1892.
Pockels described the calming effect that oils can have on bodies of water, an effect first investigated in the published literature by Benjamin Franklin. Her research extended to investigations of other surface phenomena including capillarity and contact angles.
Pockels published 14 scientific papers, mostly in German journals, the last one being published in 1926. She was eventually recognized as a pioneer in the emerging field of surface science. Following the death of her brother, Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels in 1913 and her own ill health, Agnes Pockels lost contact with many professional scientists and ceased original research.
Pockels never received a formal appointment for her scientific endeavors. Nevertheless, she published a number of scholarly papers and eventually received recognition as a pioneer in the new field of surface science. Commentators wrote: "When Langmuir received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1932, for his work in investigating monolayers on solids and on liquids, part of his achievement was [...] founded on original experiments first made with a button and a thin tray, by a young lady of 18 who had had no formal scientific training."