Abstract
We study the stability of soap films of a nonionic surfactant under different applied capillary pressures on the film. Depending on the pressure, either a thick common black film (CBF), or a microscopically thin Newton black film (NBF) is formed as a (metastable) equilibrium state, with a first-order (discontinuous) transition between the two. Studying the dynamics of the CBF-NBF transition, it is found that under certain conditions a hysteresis for the transition is observed: for a given range of pressures, either of the two states may be observed. We quantify the nucleation process that is at the basis of these observations both experimentally and theoretically.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 0483021-0483024 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2003 |
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Castelletto, V., Cantat, I., Sarker, D., Bausch, R., Bonn, D., & Meunier, J. (2003). Stability of soap films: hysteresis and nucleation of black films. Physical Review Letters, 90(4), 0483021-0483024.