Microscopic mechanisms of inorganic salts affecting the performance of aqueous foams with sodium dodecyl sulfate: View from the gas–liquid interface

Insights into characteristic motions and negative chemotaxis of the inanimate motor sensitive to sodium chloride

Inanimate motors, driven by the difference in surface tension, provide platforms for studying the physics of characteristic motion and mimicking the complex behaviors of biological systems. However, it is challenging to endow inanimate motors with high autonomy, with an emphasis on simulating the behavior of living organisms in response to external stimuli. Herein, by applying sodium chloride (NaCl) as an external stimulus, we achieve the regulation of motion mode and chemotaxis in a self-propelled camphor system. We present a comprehensive surface/interface understanding of motion bifurcation with the increase of concentration NaCl, i.e., continuous motion to no motion via oscillatory motion. The features of motions (the speed and frequency) and the mechanisms are elucidated depending on the concentrations of NaCl and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Furthermore, the characteristic motion and chemotaxis to the salt stimulus are correlated to the dynamic breaking/reforming of the surface tension balance and gradient-type distribution phenomenon triggered by dynamic camphor dissolution, surfactant adsorption /diffusion and camphor-surfactant interaction. This work sheds light on the typical motions of inanimate motors and scrutinizes the synergy between dual additives, which will boost the design of advanced self-propelled systems with nonlinear characteristic motion.

Experimental Study of the Influence of Inorganic Salts on Foam Stability

The aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) extinguishing agent is suitable for fighting various hydrocarbon fuel fires due to its dual fire-fighting effect of foam and liquid film. Because the action law and microscopic mechanism of inorganic salts on the stabilization process of surfactant-generated AFFF are not perfect, this paper employs an experimental approach to investigate the effects of inorganic salt types and concentrations on sodium dodecyl sulfate-containing foam systems (SDS). Prior to critical micelle concentration (CMC), increasing inorganic salt concentration decreased solution surface tension, but the opposite was true after CMC. The CMC value of an SDS solution decreases as inorganic salt concentration increases, and the "salting effect" of inorganic salt cations also has an effect on the CMC value. Based on the resistance of the liquid film at the gas-liquid interface affecting gas transport, the foam evolution was divided into three stages: foam generation, liquid drainage, and gas transfer. The effect of inorganic salts on these three stages was studied at the molecular level, and it was discovered that the addition of NH₄Cl and MgCl₂ could improve the saturation adsorption at the gas-liquid interface, reduce the surface tension of the surfactant solution, and improve foam stability. Meanwhile, inorganic salts can change the force of gas molecules, so the equilibrium force of gas across the liquid membrane increases as inorganic salt concentration increases. Additionally, the addition of inorganic salts raises the diffusive drainage coefficient, but the gravity drainage coefficient still reigns supreme in the predecay period.