Influence of the contact angle of silica nanoparticles at the air-water interface on the mechanical properties of the layers composed of these particles

Dominique Langevin (1) , Bingbo Wei (2) , Duyang Zang (2) , Bernard Binks (3) , Emmanuelle Rio (4) , Giles Delon (5)

1 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
2 NPU - Northwestern Polytechnical University [Xi'an]
3 University of Hull
4 UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11
5 Université de Liège

We have studied the properties (surface pressure, compression and shear moduli, texture) of silica nanoparticle layers at the air-water interface. Particle hydrophobicity or equivalently the contact angle between particles, air and water, is the main factor that influences surface organisation and surface elastic moduli. The surface layers are denser for particles of higher hydrophobicity. The compression and shear moduli, as well as the yield and melt strains, present a maximum for contact angles around 90°. The dependence of mechanical properties on particle hydrophobicity is closely related to the foamability and stability of the foams made from dispersions.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Domaines: Matière Condensée [cond-mat]

Dominique Langevin, Bingbo Wei, Duyang Zang, Bernard Binks, Emmanuelle Rio, et al.. Influence of the contact angle of silica nanoparticles at the air-water interface on the mechanical properties of the layers composed of these particles. Molecular Physics, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/00268976.2010.542778⟩. ⟨hal-00686160⟩