Interfacial mechanisms for stability of surfactant-laden films

PloS One
M Saad BhamlaGerald G Fuller

Abstract

Thin liquid films are central to everyday life. They are ubiquitous in modern technology (pharmaceuticals, coatings), consumer products (foams, emulsions) and also serve vital biological functions (tear film of the eye, pulmonary surfactants in the lung). A common feature in all these examples is the presence of surface-active molecules at the air-liquid interface. Though they form only molecular-thin layers, these surfactants produce complex surface stresses on the free surface, which have important consequences for the dynamics and stability of the underlying thin liquid film. Here we conduct simple thinning experiments to explore the fundamental mechanisms that allow the surfactant molecules to slow the gravity-driven drainage of the underlying film. We present a simple model that works for both soluble and insoluble surfactant systems in the limit of negligible adsorption-desorption dynamics. We show that surfactants with finite surface rheology influence bulk flow through viscoelastic interfacial stresses, while surfactants with inviscid surfaces achieve stability through opposing surface-tension induced Marangoni flows.

References

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Aug 27, 2015·Soft Matter·Eline HermansJan Vermant

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Citations

Aug 14, 2020·Soft Matter·Emmanouil ChatzigiannakisJan Vermant
Sep 26, 2020·Physical Review Letters·A Martínez-Calvo, A Sevilla
Dec 23, 2020·Lab on a Chip·Sébastien AndrieuxWiebke Drenckhan
Apr 20, 2021·Soft Matter·Emmanouil Chatzigiannakis, Jan Vermant
Jul 23, 2020·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Shweta NarayanCari S Dutcher

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
rheologies
rheology

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