The destabilization of froth by solids. I. The mechanism of film rupture

Abstract The interactions of several particles of different shapes and degrees of hydrophobicity with an artificially thinned film of water were recorded by means of high-speed cinematography. On bridging a film, a particle causes it to rupture only when the two three-phase boundary lines are forced to migrate to the same point on the particle. A contact angle on the particle of θ > 90° is normally required before this migration will occur, but particles that have special shapes can rupture films even when θ