Surface tension

About: Surface tension is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25410 publications have been published within this topic receiving 695471 citations.

The measurement of interfacial tension in polymer/polymer systems: The breaking thread method

Abstract: When blending incompatible polymers in the melt, the resulting morphology is strongly dependent on the interfacial tension. One stage of the mixing process is now used to determine this interfacial tension: in the absence of an overall flow field, extended liquid threads in a liquid matrix exhibit sinusoidal disturbances which cause the threads to disintegrate into lines of droplets. From the growth rate of these disturbances, the interfacial tension between the thread phase and the matrix phase is calculated. For molten polymers, this so‐called ‘‘breaking thread method’’ is relatively fast and simple since it does not require density data for the two phases. Upon addition of a diblock copolymer to the thread phase, a considerable decrease in interfacial tension is measured.

The spreading of heat or soluble surfactant along a thin liquid film

Abstract: The spreading of a localized distribution of surfactant on a thin viscous film is considered, in the situation in which the surfactant is soluble in the bulk layer and the boundary beneath the fluid is impermeable to surfactant. The surfactant distribution is controlled by advection and diffusion both at the surface of the film, where the surfactant forms a monolayer, and in the bulk. The bulk and surface surfactant concentrations are related by linearized sorption kinetics. The surfactant diffuses rapidly across the thin fluid layer, and lubrication theory is used to derive evolution equations for the film height and the surface and cross‐sectionally averaged bulk surfactant concentrations. A special case of the governing equations describes the Marangoni flow induced by a locally hot region of the layer. It is shown that in comparison to the spreading of insoluble surfactant, transient desorption of surfactant from the monolayer to the bulk causes the spreading rate to diminish, although once the bulk and surface concentrations are locally in equilibrium, film deformations are more severe, with a sharp pulse in the film height created just upstream of the leading edge of the surfactant distribution.

Surfactant Effects on Bubble Motion and Bubbly Flows

Abstract: Small amounts of surfactant can drastically change bubble behavior. For example, a bubble in aqueous surfactant solution rises much slower than one in purified water. This phenomenon is explained by the so-called Marangoni effect caused by a nonuniform concentration distribution of surfactant along the bubble surface. In other words, a tangential shear stress appears on the bubble surface due to the surface tension variation caused by the surface concentration distribution, which results in the reduction of the rising velocity of the bubble. More interestingly, this Marangoni effect influences not only the rising velocity, but also the lateral migration in the presence of mean shear. Furthermore, these phenomena influence the multiscale nature of bubbly flows and cause a drastic change in the bubbly flow structure. In this article, we review the recent studies related to these interesting behaviors of bubbles caused by the surfactant adsorption/desorption on the bubble surface.

Filter Paper With Selective Absorption and Separation of Liquids That Differ in Surface Tension

Abstract: Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic filter paper was successfully prepared by treating commercially available filter paper with a mixture of hydrophobic silica nanoparticles and polystyrene solution in toluene. Applications of the filter paper in separating liquids with low surface tensions such as oil and ethanol from water were investigated in detail. The oil uptake ability of the superhydrophobic filter paper was evaluated and the results show that the filter paper can selectively adsorb oil floating on a water surface or in aqueous emulsions. Furthermore, filtration of mixtures of oil and water through the paper can reduce the water content in the oil. Additionally, the filter paper can also extract ethanol from homogeneous aqueous solution.