Aqueous Foams Stabilized Solely by Silica Nanoparticles

Abstract

Foamability and foam stability: By using a novel dispersion method, suitably hydrophobic silica particles can be dispersed in water to form very stable foams through adsorption of particle aggregates at the surfaces of micrometer-sized bubbles. The optical microscope image shows air bubbles in pure water stabilized solely by partially hydrophobic silica nanoparticles (scale bar: 50 μm).