疏水表面之间的引力,即所谓的疏水力对于浮选中颗粒向气泡固着是相当重要的。但是,自2 0世纪80年代早期首次直接测定这个力以来,人们对疏水表面之间的这个力的来源和作用方式一直有很大的争论。我们用原子力显微镜(AFM )研究了AFM疏水探针与疏水的平表面之间在水中、乙醇水溶液中和被溶解度不同的气体饱和的水中的引力。具有长跳入范围固着位置的引力随着水中乙醇含量的增大而减小,在纯乙醇中,这个引力消失。引力曲线中台阶大小决定于气体的溶解度。而测出力的大小与气体溶解度关系不大,似乎与表面粗糙度和不均匀性关系更大些。试验结果表明,表面上稳定的亚微观气泡在疏水吸引中起重要作用。这与近年来在疏水表面上存在有气泡的直接和间接证据及研究浮选的科学家的看法是吻合的 The gravitation between the hydrophobic surfaces, the so-called hydrophobic force, is of great importance to the fixation of the particles to the bubbles in the flotation. However, since the first determination of this force directly for the first time in the early 1980s, there has been considerable debate as to the source and mode of action of this force between hydrophobic surfaces. We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the attraction between AFM hydrophobic probes and hydrophobic flat surfaces in water, in aqueous ethanol and in water saturated with gases of different solubilities. Gravitational forces with long jump-in-range anchoring points decrease with increasing ethanol content in water, and in pure ethanol, this attraction disappears. The size of the step in the gravitation curve depends on the solubility of the gas. However, the magnitude of the measured force has little to do with the solubility of the gas and seems to be more related to the surface roughness and inhomogeneity. The experimental results show that surface-stable submicroscopic bubbles play an important role in hydrophobic attraction. This is consistent with the recent direct and indirect evidence of bubble presence on hydrophobic surfaces and the scientists studying flotation