On the stability of thin films of pure water.

The stability of water films has been the focus of many researchers in the recent decades. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the stability of these foam films or on the mechanisms responsible for stabilizing water films. This paper examines the reported results on this matter and scrutinizes them based on speciation analysis of the dissolved species and the recent achievements in the adsorption of inorganic ions on the air/water interface. Our results confirm the key role of surface contamination, interface approach velocity and evaporation in the drainage and lifetime of these water films. It confirms the stabilizing effect of contamination and the destabilizing effect of air-water interface approach velocity. Moreover, the negative sign of the surface/zeta potential of the air/water interface and its dependence on the pH value were explained.