title: Repulsive van der Waals forces in soft matter: why bubbles do not stick to walls.
abstract: Measurements of nonequilibrium hydrodynamic interactions between bubbles and solid surfaces in water provide direct evidence that repulsive van der Waals forces of quantum origin control the behavior of liquid films on solids in air. In addition to being the simplest and most universal 3-phase system, the deformable air-water interface greatly enhances the sensitivity of force measurements compared with rigid systems. The strength of the repulsive interaction, controlled by the choice of solid, is sufficient to prevent coalescence (sticking) on separation due to hydrodynamic interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Rico F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Tabor
authors.forename: Rogerio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manica
authors.forename: Derek Y C
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grieser
authors.forename: Raymond R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Dagastine
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007700:Kinetics; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D014867:Water