ABSTRACT
The feasibility of entry depends ultimately on the free energy of the various interfaces involved, and for the most part the interfaces will be coated with surfactant monolayers. In systems where oil and particles are present in combination, as in commercial antifoams comprised of hydrophobic particles dispersed in mineral oil, the oil can adsorb onto exposed solid-vapor interfaces as well as into surfactant monolayers at the aw surface, and modifyaw. Although the two-dimensional solubilization of hydrocarbons in surfactant monolayers has a wide relevance in the surface chemistry of oil-water-surfactant systems, original work in this area was carried out in connection with an investigation of the effects of oil droplets on film and foam stability. In a number of commercial systems of interest, particles and oil are present together and act synergistically in destabilizing foams. Consider a system consisting of a planar horizontal solid with a drop of aqueous solution resting on it in the presence of saturated hydrocarbon vapor.
