Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada.
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada.
J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Oct;647:264-276. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.082. Epub 2023 May 19.
Surface interactions of bubbles and oil with interface-active species like asphaltenes influence many interfacial phenomena in various engineering processes. It holds both fundamental and practical significance to quantitatively characterize these interactions.
The surface forces of air bubbles, asphaltenes and asphaltenes-toluene droplets in various aqueous solutions have been quantified using an integrated thin film drainage apparatus and an atomic force microscope coupled with bubble probe. The effects of asphaltenes concentration, pH, salinity, Ca ions and surfactants have been examined.
Hydrophobic interaction drives attachment of bubbles and asphaltenes surfaces or oil droplets under high salinity condition. Increasing asphaltenes concentration in oil droplets enhances their hydrophobic attraction with bubbles due to strengthened asphaltenes adsorption and aggregation at oil-water interface. Increasing pH weakens the hydrophobic interaction as oil surfaces become more negatively charged and less hydrophobic. Under low salinity condition, strong electrical double layer and van der Waals repulsion inhibits the bubble-oil droplet contact. Introducing Ca ions and surfactants leads to strong steric repulsion, preventing bubble-oil contact. This research has advanced our mechanistic understanding of how bubbles and oil droplets interact in aqueous systems and offers useful insights to modulate such interactions in oil production, water treatment and other interfacial processes.
气泡和油与界面活性物质（如沥青质）的表面相互作用影响各种工程过程中的许多界面现象。定量描述这些相互作用具有重要的基础意义和实际意义。
使用集成薄膜排水装置和原子力显微镜结合气泡探针，定量研究了各种水溶液中气泡、沥青质和沥青质-甲苯液滴的表面力。考察了沥青质浓度、pH 值、盐度、Ca 离子和表面活性剂的影响。
在高盐度条件下，疏水相互作用驱动气泡和沥青质表面或油滴的附着。由于在油水界面上增强了沥青质的吸附和聚集，油滴中沥青质浓度的增加增强了其与气泡的疏水吸引力。随着 pH 值的升高，油表面带负电荷和疏水性降低，疏水性相互作用减弱。在低盐度条件下，强双电层和范德华排斥抑制了气泡-油滴的接触。引入 Ca 离子和表面活性剂会导致强烈的空间排斥，阻止气泡-油接触。这项研究推进了我们对气泡和油滴在水相体系中相互作用的机制理解，并为在采油、水处理和其他界面过程中调节这些相互作用提供了有用的见解。
