Rupture dynamics of flat colloidal films

Foams, films, and bubbles are ubiquitous in our everyday lives and in processes such as textile dyeing and fermentation. The rupture dynamics of Newtonian soap films is well-studied, especially in the inviscid case. Here we explore the rupture of soap films formed from a non-Newtonian fluid, a colloidal suspension. When these films are thick compared to the length scale of the colloidal particles they are composed of, they rupture in a manner similar to a Newtonian fluid, even at quite high colloidal volume fractions. However, when allowed to thin before rupture to a thickness comparable to the colloidal size, they exhibit exotic instabilities such as wrinkling and folding like a fabric.