Effect of hydrophobically modified SiO2 nanoparticles on the stability of water-based SDS foam

In the present study, SiO₂ nanoparticles were first hydrophobically modified and then added into anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) stabilized water-based foam to improve the foam stability. The foam stability was experimentally evaluated by measuring surface tension, Zeta potential and half-life of the foam. The foam stabilizing mechanism was also studied from a micro perspective by molecular dynamics simulation through analyzing the equilibration configuration and MSD curve of both SDS surfactant and water molecules. The results show that foam exhibits an optimal stability when SiO₂ concentration is 0.35 wt% under a specific surfactant concentration (0.5 wt%) in this work. The addition of SiO₂ nanoparticles with suitable concentration could improve the adsorption between SDS molecules and nanoparticles, thus limiting the movement of SDS and restricting the movement of surrounding water molecules, which is beneficial to enhance the foam stability.