Effect of surfactant on adsorption free energy and Laplace pressure of wet foam stability to porous ceramics

Abstract

This is a novel approach for the study of the effect of different surfactant concentration with the maximum wet foam stability of 85%. The production of silica foams with varied amphiphile concentration was done using wet foam technique at a specific range of pH. The wet foams were dried at room temperature and sintered with improved porosity, were found to be friable in nature, corresponding to the particle’s free energy of 1.7 × 108 kTs and pressure difference of 1.0 mPa for colloidal SiO2 particles with average diameter of 3.5 µm. The roughly distributed granular pore structures were found in the micro structural examinations of the sintered foams which were done using optical and scanning electron microscopy where the agglomeration of the bubbles occurs due to Ostwald ripening at 0.10(M) Hexylamine concentration with 30 vol% of solid loading. The porous microstructure shows interconnected cells in the size range of 100 to 300 µm.