The tribology of a bubble rubbing on a solid surface is studied via interferometry. A unique experimental setup is designed for monitoring the thickness profiles of a wetting film, intercalated between the bubble and hydrophilic glass moving with spe
ed up to 412 um/s. The determination of the 3D film thickness profiles allows us to calculate 3D maps over the wetted surface of the local capillary, disjoining and lift pressures, viscous stress and friction force. In this way the average friction force and the corresponding friction coefficient are obtained. A theoretical model for the dependence of the friction coefficient on the film thickness is developed. The relevant slip coefficient, being a measure for the slip between liquid and solid, is determined as a function of the speed of the solid surface. It is found out that below 170 um/s a friction regime exists which formally resembles dry friction, while at larger speed the friction force between the bubble and solid passes through a maximum. Furthermore, the friction coefficient has a large value at low speed of the solid and reduces substantially with the speed increase.
A theory for wetting of structured solid surfaces is developed, based on the delta-comb periodic potential. It possesses two matching parameters: the effective line tension and the friction coefficient on the three-phase contact line at the surface.
The theory is validated on the dynamics of spreading of liquid zinc droplets on morphologically patterned zinkophilic iron surface by means of square patterns of zinkophobic aluminum oxide. It is found that the effective line tension is negative and it has essential contribution to the dynamics of spreading. Thus, the theoretical analysis shows that the presence of lyophobic patterns situated on lyophilic surface makes the latter completely wettable, i.e. no equilibrium contact angle on such surface exists making the droplet spread completely in form of thin liquid layer on the patterned surface.
The present work is trying to explain a discrepancy between experimental observations of the drainage of foam films from aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the theoretical DLVO-accomplished Reynolds model. It is shown that, due to
overlap of the film adsorption layers, an adsorption component of the disjoining pressure is important for this system. The pre-exponential factor of the adsorption component was obtained by fitting the experimental drainage curves. It corresponds to a slight repulsion, which reduces not only the thinning velocity as observed experimentally but corrects also the film equilibrium thickness.
