Ultrafast desorption of colloidal particles from fluid interfaces

Abstract

The self-assembly of solid particles at fluid–fluid interfaces is widely exploited to stabilize emulsions and foams, and in materials synthesis. The self-assembly mechanism is very robust owing to the large capillary energy associated with particle adsorption, of the order of millions of times the thermal energy for micrometer-sized colloids. The microstructure of the interfacial colloid monolayer can also favor stability, for instance in the case of particle-stabilized bubbles, which can be indefinitely stable against dissolution due to jamming of the colloid monolayer. As a result, significant challenges arise when destabilization and particle removal are a requirement. Here we demonstrate ultrafast desorption of colloid monolayers from the interface of particle-stabilized bubbles. We drive the bubbles into periodic compression–expansion using ultrasound waves, causing significant deformation and microstructural changes in the particle monolayer. Using high-speed microscopy we uncover different particle expulsion scenarios depending on the mode of bubble deformation, including highly directional patterns of particle release during shape oscillations. Complete removal of colloid monolayers from bubbles is achieved in under a millisecond. Our method should find a broad range of applications, from nanoparticle recycling in sustainable processes to programmable particle delivery in lab-on-a-chip applications.