Ripening of a draining foam bubble

A forced Ostwald ripening experiment is performed on a single foam bubble. The bubble size is followed as the system is wetted with a constant liquid flow rate delivered from one of the bubble Plateau borders. Obtained ripening velocities cannot be described with a model based on a constant film thickness assumption. Within these well-controlled experimental conditions, the film thickness is measured and found to depend on the imposed liquid flow rate. It is shown that the bubble growth rate is well predicted as the films thickness evolution is explicitly introduced in the ripening model. Finally, it is suggested that existing results for the coarsening of draining foams could be understood following the approach validated on the bubble scale.

Graphical abstractInfluence of films swelling under drainage condition on the ripening of a foam bubble.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide