Coalescence in Two-Dimensional Foams: A Purely Statistical Process Dependent on Film Area.

While coalescence is ultimately the most drastic destabilization process in foams, its underlying processes are still unclear. To better understand them, we track individual coalescence events in two-dimensional foams at controlled capillary pressure. We obtain statistical information revealing the influence of the different parameters which have been previously proposed to explain coalescence. Our main conclusion is that coalescence probability is simply proportional to the area of the thin film separating two bubbles, suggesting that coalescence is mostly stochastic.

Measurement of film permeability in 2D foams.

The coarsening of quasi-2D wet foams is well described theoretically by the model of Schimming and Durian, that takes into account the diffusion through the Plateau borders and the vertices in a rigorous manner. In this article, we describe an experimental study of coarsening in which the foam film permeability is measured in such quasi-2D wet foams. We first performed a full characterization of the structure of the studied foams. Then we measured the coarsening rates. It appears that, in these foams, the film thicknesses are still too small for the Plateau borders and the vertices to contribute, but the surface Plateau borders lead to a smaller coarsening rate compared to dry foams. This rate increases with capillary pressure and follows well the prediction of the model. We demonstrate the importance of working in controlled pressure conditions during permeability measurements. Indeed, permeability depends on film thickness itself depending on capillary pressure.

The surface tells it all: relationship between volume and surface fraction of liquid dispersions.

The properties of liquid dispersions, such as foams or emulsions, depend strongly on the volume fraction ϕ of the continuous phase. Concentrating on the example of foams, we show experimentally and theoretically that ϕ may be related to the fraction ϕs of the surface at a wall which is wetted by the continuous phase - given an expression for the interfacial energy or osmotic pressure of the bulk system. Since the surface fraction ϕs can be readily determined from optical measurement and since there are good general approximations available for interfacial energy and osmotic pressure we thus arrive at an advantageous method of estimating ϕ. The same relationship between ϕ and ϕs is also expected to provide a good approximation of the fraction of the bubble or drop surface which is wetted by the continuous phase. This is a parameter of great importance for the rheology and ageing of liquid dispersions.