Aqueous foam films stabilized by sodium naphthenates.
Stratification of a foam liquid film drawn from aqueous solutions of sodium naphthenate at relatively high concentration is likely due to a lamellar liquid crystal-like structure within the film. Film stratification, resulting in stepwise thinning, has been observed in foam films formed from systems containing either moderate to high concentrations of surfactant or in films formed from solutions containing solid particles. At moderate surfactant concentrations, film stratification is likely due to layers of ordered spherical micelles as postulated in Wasan and Nikolov's model of film stratification. At high surfactant concentrations, stepwise thinning of the films and occurrence of domains of uniform color within the film suggest a lamellar liquid crystal-like structure within the film, potentially up to hundred or more oriented layers. The LLC-like structure inside the film can occur at concentrations below the lower limit of the LLC existence as a bulk phase.
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G6, Canada. staylor9@slb.com
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