Laplace pressure based disjoining pressure isotherm in non symmetric conditions

Understanding the stability and dynamics of two phase systems, such as foams and emulsions, in porous media is still a challenge for physicists and calls for a better understanding of the intermolecular interactions between interfaces. In a classical approach, these interactions are investigated in the framework of Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) theory by building disjoining pressure isotherms. This paper reports on a technique allowing the measurement of disjoining pressure isotherms in a thin liquid film squeezed by either a gas or a liquid phase on a solid substrate. We couple a Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy set-up to a microfluidic channel that sets the disjoining pressure through the Laplace pressure. This simple technique is found to be both accurate and precise. The Laplace pressure mechanism provides extremely stable conditions and offers opportunity for parallelizing experiments by producing several drops in channels of different heights. We illustrate its potential by comparing experimental isotherms for oil-[(water and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)]-glass systems with different models focusing on the electrostatic contribution of the disjoining pressure. The extracted values of the interface potentials are in agreement with the constant surface potential model and with a full computation. The derived SDS surface concentration agrees with values reported in the literature. We believe that this technique is suitable for investigating other working fluids and intermolecular interactions at smaller scales. Published by AIP Publishing.