Tuning of foam film thickness by different (poly)electrolyte/surfactant combinations

Disjoining pressure isotherms of free-standing liquid films (foam films) consisting of different polyelectrolyte/surfactant combinations are measured in a thin film pressure balance (TFPB). In dependence of the charge of polyelectrolyte and surfactant, a transition from an electrostatically stabilized common black film (CBF) to a sterically stabilized Newton black film (NBF) can be induced in some cases while for other polyelectrolyte/ surfactant combinations the film is a CBF up to several thousands of pascals. The thinner NBF is less stable, and the film breaks after a few minutes. An exchange of the polymers by monomers leads to the same kind of film as that for the respective polymer, while the addition of, for example, simple salt leads always to a transition from CBF to NBF. The typical stratification of polyelectrolyte/surfactant films is not observed in monomer/surfactant films.