Interfacial tension measurements of colloidal suspensions: An explanation of colloidal particle-driven interfacial flows Original Research Article

In previous work, we have shown that a dilute suspension of colloidal particles will spontaneously flow when placed in a container. The flow is caused by interfacial tension gradients created by aggregates of the colloidal particles on the interface. In this paper, we present some results that show the interfacial tension of charged stabilized titania suspensions significantly decreases within certain volume fractions. The data show that the interfacial tension is indeed a strong function of the particle concentration and help explain the unusual results seen in the flow experiments.