Foam dust suppression is an effective technique for controlling dust at its source. Dilatational interfacial rheology is an important property of aqueous foam. It characterizes the strength and toughness of liquid film and acts on the foaming process and drainage, affecting foaming capacity (FC) and foam stability (FS). The interfacial viscoelastic properties of anionic and nonionic surfactants commonly used were studied by testing the viscoelastic properties with different foaming agent concentrations (FAC) and their effects on foam performance were investigated. The results show that increasing FAC from 0.1 wt. parts per thousand to 1.0 wt. parts per thousand generally decreased the viscoelastic modulus, which was negatively correlated with FC: 6501 had a highly linear relationship between FC and viscoelastic modulus. The viscoelastic modulus of 1<12 and AES were positively correlated with FC in the low-modulus range, then negatively correlated at higher viscoelastic modulus values; the turning point was defined as the optimal viscoelastic modulus. The viscoelastic modulus had a significant positive effect on FS. The surface viscoelasticity contributed greatly to improving FS before the critical micelle concentration (CMC) was reached. After reaching CMC, micelle properties of bulk phase mainly affected the foam life. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.