Dynamics of thinning of foam films stabilized by n-dodecyl-beta-maltoside.

We studied the process of thinning of thin liquid films stabilized with the nonionic surfactant n-dodecyl-beta-maltoside (beta-C(12)G(2)) with primary interest in interfacial diffusion processes during the thinning process dependent on surfactant concentration. The surfactant concentration in the film forming solutions was varied from 0.01 to 1.0 mM through the critical micellar concentration of 0.16 mM at constant electrolyte (NaCl) concentration, nominally 0.2 M. This assures the formation of Newton black films at the end of the thinning process. The velocity of thinning was analyzed combining previously developed theoretical approaches. From the model, which accounts for diffusion processes in the bulk of the film and in the interfaces, an analytical function was derived and fitted numerically to the experimental data. Quantitative information about the mobility of the surfactant molecules at the film surfaces could be obtained. We find that above a surfactant concentration of 0.12 mM (beta-C(12)G(2)) the film surfaces behave as immobile and nondeformable which decelerates the thinning process. This follows the predictions for Reynolds flow of liquid between two nondeformable disks. Moreover, we could apply the theory on free area dependent diffusion coefficients on our results and show that it is in reasonable ranges applicable on the used surfactant system.