Eur. Phys. J. E (2007) 24: 109-117
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2007-10219-y

Regular Article

Statics and dynamics of adhesion between two soap bubbles

Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, CNRS UMR 8550, 24, rue Lhomond, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France

^* e-mail: sebastien.besson@lps.ens.fr

Received: 19 March 2007
Accepted: 7 August 2007
Published online: 22 October 2007

Abstract

An original set-up is used to study the adhesive properties of two hemispherical soap bubbles put into contact. The contact angle at the line connecting the three films is extracted by image analysis of the bubbles profiles. After the initial contact, the angle rapidly reaches a static value slightly larger than the standard 120^° angle expected from Plateau rule. This deviation is consistent with previous experimental and theoretical studies: it can be quantitatively predicted by taking into account the finite size of the Plateau border (the liquid volume trapped at the vertex) in the free energy minimization. The visco-elastic adhesion properties of the bubbles are further explored by measuring the deviation Δθ_d(t) of the contact angle from the static value as the distance between the two bubbles supports is sinusoidally modulated. It is found to linearly increase with Δr _c/r _c , where r_c is the radius of the central film and Δr _c the amplitude of modulation of this length induced by the displacement of the supports. The in-phase and out-of-phase components of Δθ_d(t) with the imposed modulation frequency are systematically probed, which reveals a transition from a viscous to an elastic response of the system with a crossover pulsation of the order 1rad · s^-1. Independent interfacial rheological measurements, obtained from an oscillating bubble experiment, allow us to develop a model of dynamic adhesion which is confronted to our experimental results. The relevance of such adhesive dynamic properties to the rheology of foams is briefly discussed using a perturbative approach to the Princen 2D model of foams.