Foam drainage on the microscale II. Imaging flow through single Plateau borders

A time-resolved investigation at multiple-length scales of the structure of liquid foam stabilized by albumins from pea

HYPOTHESIS

The structural details of foams made with pea albumins are affected by the pH of the initial solution and followed heat treatment.

EXPERIMENTS

An in situ, time-resolved investigation of foams prepared with pea albumins was conducted using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in combination with imaging and conductance measurements. Solutions were tested at pH three pH values (3, 4.5, and 8) before and after heating (90 °C for 1 and 5 min).

FINDINGS

The characteristic structures present in the foam from the nano to the meso-scale differed during drainage depending on solution pH. Foams obtained at pH 3, had the largest bubble radius and thinnest plateau border, as well as the highest extent of liquid drainage. At pH 4.5, close to the isoelectric point of the proteins, foams displayed similar bubbles' behavior to those at pH 8, but with the largest film thickness. In this case, the proteins were extensively aggregated. Heating of the solutions prior to foaming did not significantly affect the foam aging regardless of pH. The quantification of specific surface areas and film thickness over time without sample disruption shows to be a powerful approach to designing foam structures.

Effect of Mineral Powders on the Properties of Foam Concrete Prepared by Cationic and Anionic Surfactants as Foaming Agents

Foam concrete is a type of cement mortar in which air bubbles are introduced using an appropriate foaming agent. The complex conditions for the preparation of solid particle stabilized foams limit their wide application in construction. In this study, a method of adding small amounts of calcite (Cal) and muscovite (Mus) to the cement paste matrix is proposed to improve the properties of foam concrete prepared with cationic and anionic surfactants as foaming agents. The effects of mineral powders on the flowability, compressive strength, water absorption, pore characteristics, thermal conductivity and frost resistance of foam concrete were investigated and the enhancement mechanism was revealed by the results of XRD, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and SEM. The results showed that the mineral powders interacted with anionic and cationic surfactants through physical adsorption. Whether anionic or cationic surfactants were used as foaming agents, the addition of mineral powders promoted the formation of shell-like structures around the foam, thus enhancing the performance of foam concrete. As a result, the fluidity, compressive strength and frost resistance of the foam concrete increased, the water absorption and thermal conductivity decreased, and the average size of the pores decreased.

Neutron radiography of liquid foam structure near a vertical wall

At a solid boundary, the structural formation of bubbles is different from that in the bulk of a liquid foam. The presence of a solid boundary imposes additional constraints, resulting in a crystalline arrangement of the bubbles. For dry and monodisperse foam, the Kelvin and Fejes-Tóth structure is expected in the vicinity of the wall, while a random ordering should occur in the bulk. In this study, we investigate the transition from a crystalline to a random structure near a vertical wall located in the middle of a flat foam cell. The corresponding layering of the liquid was quantified by measuring the distribution of liquid fraction within the cell using neutron radiography. The amplitude of the liquid fraction distribution and its decay with distance from the solid boundary were correlated with the foam bubble size and polydispersity. Furthermore, by applying forced drainage, we measured the corresponding permeability and wetting front velocity near the vertical wall. We found that the crystalline sorting reduces the permeability and wetting front velocity compared to a randomly packed foam.

Study on the Effect of Foam Stability on the Properties of Foamed Lightweight Soils

The properties of prepared foamed lightweight soils (FLSs) using prefabricated foam requires high foam stability. This paper investigates the geometrical characteristics of different foam densities, different types of foaming agents in the air, and the presence of slurry. Then, it studies their effects on the pore structure and mechanical properties of FLS. Results show that with the increase in foam density the bleeding rate of foam in the air for 1 h increases and the foam with a foam density of 50 kg/m3 is the most stable in the air. The stability of foam in slurry is not directly related to the property of foam in the air. The FLS prepared with the same foaming agent had the best performance with the FLS designed with a foam density of 50 kg/m3, which had the smallest average pore size and the most minor pore size distribution, and had the highest compressive strength. Among the three different foaming agents, Type-S was the best, and the slurry had the lowest rate of increase in wet density after the defoaming test, indicating that the foam had the best stability in the cement slurry. The FLS prepared with the density of 50 kg/m3 using the Type-S foaming agent and mixed with the slurry of cement, fly ash:slag:water = 105:105:140:227.5, was hardened to a mean pore size of 299 μm, and the 7 days, 28 days, and 56 days compressive strengths were 0.92 MPa, 2.04 MPa, and 2.48 MPa, respectively, which had the smallest average pore size and the highest compressive strength among the FLSs prepared using the three foaming agents.

The Stabilizing Effect of Carboxymethyl Cellulose on Foamed Concrete

Foam concrete is widely used for its excellent properties, such as light weight, heat insulation, fire resistance, and sound insulation. The stability of foam is the main factor that affects the mechanical performance of foam concrete. The experiments are designed from two perspectives: the foam's stability performance and the foam concrete's modification effect. The effects on foam volume, foam half-life, foam bleeding rate, and foam pore size were investigated based on different concentrations of foam stabilizer CMC (0%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%). A combination of macroscopic testing and microscopic analysis, a comparative study of dry density, water absorption test, mechanical property test, and pore structure analysis were conducted after using the modified foam for foam concrete. It is shown that the addition of CMC has an enhanced effect on foam stability. Foaming volume, water secretion rate, and average pore size showed a decreasing trend with the increase of CMC admixture, while the foam half-life displayed an increasing trend. In addition, adding CMC reduces the dry density and improves water absorption and compressive strength. The pore structure development of foam concrete has a noticeable improvement effect, and the optimal amount of admixture is 0.4%. Research results provide a reference for applying thickening foam stabilizer CMC in foam concrete.

A new model to describe small-angle neutron scattering from foams

The modelling of scattering data from foams is very challenging due to the complex structure of foams and is therefore often reduced to the fitting of single peak positions or feature mimicking. This article presents a more elaborate model to describe the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) data from foams. The model takes into account the geometry of the foam bubbles and is based on an incoherent superposition of the reflectivity curves arising from the foam films and the small-angle scattering (SAS) contribution from the plateau borders. The model is capable of describing the complete scattering curve of a foam stabilized by the standard cationic surfactant tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C14TAB) with different water contents, i.e. different drainage states, and provides information on the thickness distribution of liquid films inside the foam. The mean film thickness decreases with decreasing water content because of drainage, from 28 to 22 nm, while the polydispersity increases. These results are in good agreement with the film thicknesses of individual horizontal foam films studied with a thin-film pressure balance.

Numerical Modeling of Flow through Foam Nodes within the Dry and Wet Limits

We present a numerical simulation using three-dimensional microscale models to illustrate flow dynamics through different foam geometries. These were designed to represent the flow with various liquid volume fractions throughout the Plateau border (PB) and node system within the "dry" limit and throughout the two nodes and PB system within the "wet" limit. Most surfaces in the models involve a gas-liquid interface. Here, the stress-balance boundary condition was applied to achieve coupling between the surface and bulk. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation along with the continuity equation was solved using the finite volume approach, and a qualitative evaluation of flow velocities in different foam geometries was obtained. The numerical results were validated against the available experimental results for foam permeabilities in the nodes and PBs. Discrepancies were expected between the simulated and empirical values as the latter values were obtained by considering only the viscous losses in the PBs. Furthermore, the scaled resistance to flow for varying gas-liquid interface mobilities and liquid fractions was studied. The individual geometrical characteristics of the node and PB components were compared to investigate the PB- and node-dominated flow regimes numerically. Additionally, more accurate information was obtained for comparing the average flow velocities within the node-PB and the two-node-PB systems, providing a better understanding of the effect of a gas-liquid interface on foam flow. We eventually show that when the foam geometry is correctly described, the relative effect of the geometrical factors of the PB and node components of system models can be evaluated, allowing a numerical flow simulation with a unique parameter-the Boussinesq number (B_o).

Foam fractionation for effective removal of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from water body: Strengthening foam drainage by artificially inducing foam evolution

Lack of microbial contamination is of great significance to drinking water safety and water reclamation. In this work, foam fractionation was employed to remove Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) from aqueous solution and dodecyl dimethyl betaine (BS12) was used as the collector. Since the attachment of strain cells on the bubble surface would impede the reflux of interstitial liquid in the plateau borders (PBs), a novel strategy in strengthening foam drainage was developed through artificially inducing foam evolution. Two gas distributors with different pore diameters had been mounted at the bottom of the column for regulating the radial distribution of bubble size in the foam phase. Experimental results indicated that gas diffuse and bubble coarsening could be significantly promoted by increasing the size difference among the adjacent bubbles. Bubble coalescence contributed to broadening the width of plateau borders, thereby avoiding the borders blockage by strain cells. During bubble coalescence, surfactant molecules would be partially shifted from the surface of small bubble towards that of large bubble due to the molecule density difference. The increase in surface excess of surfactant molecules on gas-liquid interface was conducive to improving foam stability. Under the suitable conditions of air flow rates of gas distributor with 0.125 mm of pore diameter 75 mL/min and gas distributor with 0.425 mm of pore diameter 125 mL/min, BS12 concentration 0.1 g/L, and P. aeruginosa concentration 2.0 × 10⁴ CFU/mL, the removal percentage and enrichment ratio of P. aeruginosa were 99.6% and 10.6, respectively. This work is expected to provide some new light for strengthening foam drainage in the presence of solid particles and to facilitate the industrialization of foam fractionation in water treatment.

Scaling law for the kinetics of water imbibition in polydisperse foams

We investigated the kinetics of water imbibition in polydisperse foams. We used a Hele-Shaw cell, and horizontal imbibition was observed for a timescale of up to 10³ s in which the gravity effect was negligible. While several papers have reported kinetics for imbibition in foams, imbibition kinetics in polydisperse foams and its variations in longer timescales are not well understood. The tip position of imbibition was proportional to the square root of time in the initial stage of imbibition, but it showed plateauing in the late stage of imbibition. We evaluated the proportional constant A in the initial stage of imbibition as a kinetic constant for the time-dependent increase in the tip position, which showed a clear dependency on the initial and final water volume fractions in the foams. Conversely, the mean initial radius of the curvature and the channel length in the Plateau borders did not show any clear correlations with A, although both valuables are frequently used in modeling for liquid imbibition in foams. On the basis of the t^1/2 dependence, the correlation of A with the water volume fraction and the increase in the water volume fraction during imbibition, we proposed a simple equation to describe the tip position over the entire period of imbibition. We used them to scale all of the experimental data, which showed good agreement with the theoretical line. This clearly showed that the water volume fraction in the foams during imbibition was the key factor to quantitatively describe the rate of water imbibition. Features in the kinetics of imbibition were discussed.

Horizontal imbibition of water in foams is scaled well by a simple mathematical expression that considers t^1/2 dependence and changes in volume fraction of water in foams.

Modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes assisted foam fractionation for effective removal of acid orange 7 from the dyestuff wastewater

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) had been used to strengthen the removal of acid orange 7 (AO7) from the dyestuff wastewater by using foam fractionation. First, the surface modification of MWCNTs was performed by introducing hypochlorite groups (-OCl). The modified MWCNTs were characterized by using SEM, XRD, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Subsequently, the potential of modified MWCNTs as a novel collector for AO7 adsorption was examined. The adsorption conditions of modified MWCNTs towards AO7 were optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD). The adsorption capacity of modified MWCNTs towards AO7 could reach 47.72 ± 0.79 mg·g^-1 under the optimum conditions. The kinetics and the equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed by using different kinetic and isotherm models. According to the regression results, adsorption kinetics data were well described by pseudo-second order model, whereas adsorption isotherm data were best represented by Langmuir isotherm model. Finally, foam fractionation was performed with a batch mode. Under the suitable conditions of loading liquid volume 300 mL, modified MWCNTs dosage 180 mg, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration 50 mg·L^-1, AO7 concentration 30 mg·L^-1, pore diameter of gas distributor 0.125 mm and air flow rate 100 mL·min^-1, the removal percentage and enrichment ratio of AO7 were 91.23% and 6.17, respectively. The decolourization ratio of solution after foam fractionation was found to be 98.66%.

Aqueous Foams in the Presence of Surfactant Crystals

Aqueous foams are used extensively in many fields and anionic surfactants are commonly used foaming agents. However, potential trouble may arise when they are utilized in hard water areas and/or at low temperatures. Anionic surfactants, like sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), may precipitate in the form of crystals when the concentration of divalent counterions such as Mg²⁺ exceeds a certain limit. In an attempt to prepare ultrastable foams containing precipitated crystals, the behavior of SDS in water was systematically investigated as a function of surfactant concentration at different concentrations of Mg(NO₃)₂ prior to a study of their foam properties. We quantitatively study the conversion of surfactant micelles to crystals and the redissolution of crystals into micelles. It was found that the presence of surfactant crystals reduced the initial foam volume and foam half-life but greatly improved the long-term stability of foams. Foam studies were also conducted for the supernatant and sediment isolated from crystal dispersions so that the importance of surfactant crystals to foam stability could be established. Despite the foamability of a sediment being low, an order of magnitude increase in foam half-life was related to the coverage of bubble surfaces by surfactant crystals. Both rapid cooling and ultrasonication were shown to influence the surfactant crystal shape and size with an impact on foam properties.

Different strategies of foam stabilization in the use of foam as a fracturing fluid

An attractive alternative to mitigate the adverse effects of conventional water-based fluids on the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing is to inject foam-based fracking fluids into reservoirs. The efficiency of foaming fluids in subsurface applications largely depends on the stability and transportation of foam bubbles in harsh environments with high temperature, pressure and salinity, all of which inevitably lead to poor foam properties and thus limit fracturing efficiency. The aim of this paper is to elaborate popular strategies of foam stabilization under reservoir conditions. Specifically, this review first discusses three major mechanisms governing foam decay and summarizes recent progress in research on these phenomena. Since surfactants, polymers, nanoparticles and their composites are popular options for foam stabilization, their stabilizing effects, especially the synergies in composites, are also reviewed. In addition to reporting experimental results, the paper also reports recent advances in interfacial properties via molecular dynamical simulation, which provide new insights into gas/liquid interfacial properties under the influence of surfactants at molecular scale. The results of both experiments and simulations indicate that foam additives play an essential role in foam stability and the synergic effects of surfactants and nanoparticles exhibit more favorable performance.

Measuring the impact of channel length on liquid flow through an ideal Plateau border and node system

The phenomenon of foam drainage is a complex multi-scale process that unites molecular level interactions with bulk foam characteristics. Foam drainage is primarily governed by the flow of liquid in the channels and junctions that form between bubbles, which are known as Plateau borders (PBs) and nodes respectively. Existing theoretical work predicts the surface rheology of the PB and node air-liquid interface to influence liquid flow rates; however, direct experimental observations of this phenomenon remain scarce. This study recognises the clear need for a reproducible, accurate and standardised approach to directly studying liquid flow at the scale of a theoretically 'ideal' PB-node architecture. Measurements of PB geometric profiles and their apparent surface shear viscosities, μs, were made for an aqueous solution of Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) at varying PB lengths, l1, and liquid flow rates in the range 10 μl min-1 ≤ Q ≤ 200 μl min-1. Geometric profiles displayed previously unobserved transitions between PB relaxation and expansion towards the node, with expansion dominating under conditions approaching conventional foam drainage. Average values of μs in the PB relaxation regions showed virtually inviscid behaviour, with magnitudes of 10-8 g s-1 < μs < 10-4 g s-1 for l1 in the range 27.5 mm ⪆ l1 ⪆ 8.0 mm. Decreasing magnitudes of μs and degrees of shear thinning were observed with increasing l1. This was attributed to a compressibility of the interface that was limited by an SDS concentration dependence on l1. Numerical evaluation predicted the appearance of Marangoni forces that scaled strongly with liquid shear rates, and could therefore have been responsible for the apparent shear thinning behaviour.

A review of aqueous foam in microscale

In recent years, significant progress has been achieved in the study of aqueous foams. Having said this, a better understanding of foam physics requires a deeper and profound study of foam elements. This paper reviews the studies in the microscale of aqueous foams. The elements of aqueous foams are interior Plateau borders, exterior Plateau borders, nodes, and films. Furthermore, these elements' contribution to the drainage of foam and hydraulic resistance are studied. The Marangoni phenomena that can happen in aqueous foams are listed as Marangoni recirculation in the transition region, Marangoni-driven flow from Plateau border towards the film in the foam fractionation process, and Marangoni flow caused by exposure of foam containing photosurfactants under UV. Then, the flow analysis of combined elements of foam such as PB-film along with Marangoni flow and PB-node are studied. Next, we contrast the behavior of foams in different conditions. These various conditions can be perturbation in the foam structure caused by injected water droplets or waves or using a non-Newtonian fluid to make the foam. Further review is about the effect of oil droplets and particles on the characteristics of foam such as drainage, stability and interfacial mobility.

Drop coalescence and liquid flow in a single Plateau border

We report a comprehensive study of the flow of liquid triggered by injecting a droplet into a liquid foam microchannel, also called a Plateau border. This drop-injected experiment reveals an intricate dynamics for the liquid redistribution, with two contrasting regimes observed, ruled either by inertia or viscosity. We devoted a previous study [A. Cohen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 218303 (2014)] to the inertial imbibition regime, unexpected at such small length scales. Here we report other features of interest of the drop-injected experiment, related to the coalescence of the droplet with the liquid microchannel, to both the inertial and viscous regimes, and to the occurrence of liquid flow through the soap films as well as effects of the interfacial rheology. The transition between the two regimes is investigated and qualitatively accounted for. The relevance of our results to liquid foam drainage is tackled by considering the flow of liquid at the nodes of the network of interconnected microchannels. Extensions of our study to liquid foams are discussed.

Surface shear rheology of monolayers at the surface of water

The knowledge of surface shear rheology is important to understand and model flow in systems where interfaces are present: multiphase flow, wetting, foaming and others. The topic has been investigated for more than 100 years, but the knowledge accumulated is still partial. The experimental devices used for the measurement of the viscoelastic parameters are delicate to operate and the response of the monolayers is complex, usually non-linear and time dependent. Furthermore, it is difficult to decouple from the response of the bulk liquid. Important discrepancies between microscopic and macroscopic methods were reported and remain to be clarified. The knowledge of shear properties does not suffice in general to achieve proper descriptions of the flow behavior and measurements of compression properties are needed as well. This paper presents examples taken from the literature and discusses the current level of understanding.

The equilibrium intrinsic crystal-liquid interface of colloids

We use confocal microscopy to study an equilibrated crystal-liquid interface in a colloidal suspension. Capillary waves roughen the surface, but locally the intrinsic interface is sharply defined. We use local measurements of the structure and dynamics to characterize the intrinsic interface, and different measurements find slightly different widths of this interface. In terms of the particle diameter d, this width is either 1.5d (based on structural information) or 2.4d (based on dynamics), both not much larger than the particle size. This work is the first direct experimental visualization of an equilibrated crystal-liquid interface.

Gas and liquid transport in steady-state aqueous foam

Experiments are performed on the transport of gas and liquid in a column of aqueous foam maintained in steady state by a constant gas flux at the bottom. We measure vertical profiles of the bubble velocities, the bubble radii, and the liquid fraction, for four different gas fluxes. In steady state the bubbles move upwards with constant speed equal to the measured gas flux, which accounts for all transport of gas. The bubbles also coarsen by gas diffusion at a rate that depends on liquid fraction. Away from the bottom, the Plateau border radii are constant. Therefore capillary effects are negligible and the steady-state liquid-fraction profile is set chiefly by the balance of viscous forces and gravity. The flow within the Plateau borders may be modeled with a no-slip boundary condition for our system. These findings provide a simple description of steady-state foams via the coarsening and drainage equations, which can be combined and solved analytically for bubble radius and liquid-fraction profiles.

Rheology of steady-state draining foams

We developed the foam drainage rheology technique in order to perform rheological measurements of aqueous foams at a set liquid fraction epsilon and fixed bubble radius R without the usual difficulties associated with fluid drainage and bubble coarsening. The shear stress exhibits a power-law dependence on strain-rate, tau approximately gamma[over]n where n approximately 0.2. The stress exhibits an inverse dependence on liquid content, tau approximately (1+h'epsilon)(-1), where h'=theta(10) exhibits a diminishing logarithmic trend with gamma[over]. We propose a model based upon film shearing as the dominant source of viscous dissipation.

Structure and dynamics of confined foams: a review of recent progress

Basic research on confined foams now points to an interesting application, a kind of microfluidics which deals with the manipulation of closely packed droplets or bubbles flowing in channels. In such systems, the minimisation of interfacial energy leads to self-organised ordering which is tightly coupled to the channel geometry, hence providing efficient means of performing controlled topological operations on droplet and bubbles structures. We have called this discrete microfluidics, and have begun to explore its possibilities and principles. Apart from the fact that such systems provide powerful tools to study the flow of foams and emulsions on the scale of a few bubbles or droplets, they also carry the promise of versatile applications for Lab-on-a-Chip technologies. In these, discrete gas or liquid samples can be generated, processed, stored and analysed within a single handheld chip. Previous work on foams and emulsions in confined geometries provides a basis for this, and is being extended progressively by new experiments and appropriate dynamic models, such as the 2d Viscous Froth Model. The result should be a practical "design kit" for more complex networks to efficiently process discrete gas and fluid samples.

Steady drainage in emulsions: corrections for surface Plateau borders and a model for high aqueous volume fraction

We compare extensive experimental results for the gravity-driven steady drainage of oil-in-water emulsions with two theoretical predictions, both based on the assumption of Poiseuille flow. The first is from standard foam drainage theory, applicable at low aqueous volume fractions, for which a correction is derived to account for the effects of the confinement of the emulsion. The second arises from considering the permeability of a model porous medium consisting of solid sphere packings, applicable at higher aqueous volume fractions. We find quantitative agreement between experiment and the foam drainage theory at low aqueous volume fractions. At higher aqueous volume fractions, the reduced flow rate calculated from the permeability theory approaches the master curve of the experimental data. Our experimental data demonstrates the analogy between the problem of electrical flow and liquid flow through foams and emulsions.

Diffusive liquid propagation in porous and elastic materials: the case of foams under microgravity conditions

We report the results of fluid transport experiments in aqueous foams under microgravity. Using optical and electrical methods, the capillary motion of the foam fluid and the local liquid fractions are monitored. We show that foams can be continuously wetted up to high liquid fractions ( approximately 0.3), without any bubble motion instabilities. Data are compared to drainage models: For liquid fractions above 0.2, discrepancies are found and identified. These new results on foam hydrodynamics and structure can be useful for other poroelastic materials, such as plants and biological tissues.

Interfacial interactions and colloid retention under steady flows in a capillary channel

Colloidal interfacial interactions in a capillary channel under different chemical and flow conditions were studied using confocal microscopy. Fluorescent latex microspheres (1.1 microm) were employed as model colloids and the effects of ionic strength and flow conditions on colloidal retention at air-water interface (AWI) and contact line were examined in static and dynamic (flow) experiments. Colloids were preferentially attached to and accumulated at AWI, but their transport with bulk solution was non-negligible. Changing solution ionic strength in the range 1-100 mM had a marginal effect on colloidal accumulation, indicating forces other than electrostatic are involved. Flow through the open channel resembled Poiseuille flow with AWI acting as a non-stress-free boundary, which resulted in near stagnation of AWI and consequently promoted colloid accumulation. Retention on contact line was likely dominated by film-straining and was more significant in flow relative to static experiments due to hydrodynamic driving force. Modeling and dimensionless analysis of the flow behavior in the capillary channel clearly indicate the important role of apparent surface viscosity and surface tension in colloidal interfacial retention at the pore scale, providing insight that could improve understanding of colloid fate and transport in natural unsaturated porous media.

Physical chemistry in foam drainage and coarsening

This review covers recent advances in the study of foam drainage and coarsening, focusing especially on the effective role of the foam chemical components on those aging processes. The determination of the relevant parameters controlling foam drainage and coarsening today remains a major issue: are the physical parameters (like bubble size and liquid fraction) sufficient to define a foam and to predict its evolution, or do the chemical components also matter? And if these foam components are important, one has to determine by which mechanisms, and which microscopic parameters involved in these mechanisms are eventually crucial. I report here recent experimental results, shedding light on these issues. It allows us to summarize how the surfactant, the liquid bulk properties, and the gas modify or not the drainage and coarsening features. The coupling between drainage and coarsening is also discussed, as well as the role of the experimental conditions (sample height, shape or foam uniformity).

Viscosity effects in foam drainage: Newtonian and non-newtonian foaming fluids

We have studied the drainage of foams made from Newtonian and non-Newtonian solutions of different viscosities. Forced-drainage experiments first show that the behavior of Newtonian solutions and of shear-thinning ones (foaming solutions containing either Carbopol or Xanthan) are identical, provided one considers the actual viscosity corresponding to the shear rate found inside the foam. Second, for these fluids, a drainage regime transition occurs as the bulk viscosity is increased, illustrating a coupling between surface and bulk flow in the channels between bubbles. The properties of this transition appear different from the ones observed in previous works in which the interfacial viscoelasticity was varied. Finally, we show that foams made of solutions containing long flexible PolyEthylene Oxide (PEO) molecules counter-intuitively drain faster than foams made with Newtonian solutions of the same viscosity. Complementary experiments made with fluids having all the same viscosity but different responses to elongational stresses (PEO-based Boger fluids) suggest an important role of the elastic properties of the PEO solutions on the faster drainage.

Ultrasound-induced microbubble coalescence

We studied the interaction of ultrasound contrast agent bubbles coated with a layer of lipids, driven by 0.5 MHz ultrasound. High-speed photography on the submicrosecond timescale reveals that some bubbles bounce off each other, while others show very fast coalescence during bubble expansion. This fast coalescence cannot be explained by dissipation-limited film drainage rates. We conclude that the lipid shell ruptures upon expansion, exposing clean free bubble interfaces that support plug flow profiles in the film and inertia-limited drainage whose time scales match those of the observed coalescence.