Interfacial mechanisms for stability of surfactant-laden films.

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.

The effect of the partial pressure of water vapor on the surface tension of the liquid water-air interface.

Precise measurements of the surface tension of water in air vs. humidity at 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C are shown. For constant temperature, surface tension decreases linearly for increasing humidity in air. These experimental data are in good agreement with a simple model based on Newton's laws here proposed. It is assumed that evaporating molecules of water are ejected from liquid to gas with a mean normal component of the speed of "ejection" greater than zero. A high humidity in the air reduces the net flow of evaporating water molecules lowering the effective surface tension on the drop. Therefore, just steam in air acts as an effective surfactant for the water-air interface. It can partially substitute chemical surfactants helping to reduce their environmental impact.