Surface rheology and its relation to foam stability in solutions of sodium decyl sulfate

Abstract

The anionic surfactant sodium decyl sulfate (SDeS) at concentrations below its critical micellar concentration (cmc) was studied in a surface chemically purified state at the air–water interface in terms of its static and dynamic interfacial properties. Equilibrium surface tension was determined using a pendant drop tensiometer. An oscillating bubble capillary pressure tensiometer allowed accessing the surface dilatational properties of the surfactant's adsorption layers in a frequency range from 2 to 500Hz. The estimation of single foam lamella stability was obtained from visual observation of films formed within a rectangular glass frame in a saturated atmosphere. Upon increasing surfactant concentration, the foam lamellae were found to rupture at prolonged lifetimes. The dramatic difference in foam stability goes along with a pronounced transition from a surface elastic to a surface visco-elastic state of the adsorption layers. These findings were indicative for a correlation between foam lamella stability and surface viscoelasticity also for this model surfactant. These results may be of importance to further shed light on the processes governing foam and foam lamella stability.