Ultra-stable aqueous foam stabilized by water-soluble alkyl acrylate crosspolymer

•The foam formed from HMPAA solution was ultra-stable.•The foam films characteristics were measured by FT-IR.•The mechanism of the foam stability was revealed by diverse techniques.

Aqueous foam solely stabilized by a kind of hydrophobic modified water-soluble polymer, alkyl acrylate crosspolymer (HMPAA), was found to be extraordinary stable, no matter in static state or under disturbance, even if CO2 was used as gas agent. The high water-holding capacity of HMPAA foam film demonstrated by FoamScan and FT-IR measurement was in accordance with the low gas transmission through the foam film, which was detected by FT-IR, too. Fluorescence Microscope, TEM and Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation were used to get information about the adsorption and array behavior of HMPAA on the gas/water interface and in foam film, it was found that the comb polymer molecules adsorbed on the interface clustered to form plat network, which covered the interface very well like a “shell”. By combining all these results, the mechanism of ultra high foam stability of HMPAA was revealed, and a novel approach to achieve long-term foam aqueous foam was proposed.

Graphical abstractUltra-stable aqueous foam stabilized by water-soluble alkyl acrylate crosspolymer (HMPAA) was introduced. The HMPAA molecules adsorbed at the gas/water interface could interact with each other to form network structure through the hydrophobic force, and the interface could be covered very well. Besides, huge amount of water molecules was found to be strapped in the foam film and would not be drained out. Therefore the gas permeability of HMPAA foam film was low, and the coalescence of bubbles in the foam was postponed.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide