Long-lived submicrometric bubbles in very diluted alkali halide water solutions

TL;DR

This study reveals the presence of long-lived submicrometric bubbles in highly diluted alkali halide solutions, with their stability and size influenced by electric charge and solution shaking, as evidenced by scattering measurements.

Contribution

It demonstrates the formation and stability of submicroscopic bubbles in very dilute salt solutions, a phenomenon linked to electric charge effects and solution handling.

Findings

R/B ratio peaks at ultra-low concentrations indicating bubble presence

Long-lived bubbles increase in size as salt concentration decreases

Bubble stability is due to negative ion surface coverage

Abstract

Solutions of LiCl and of NaCl in ultrapure water were studied through Rayleigh/Brillouin scattering as a function of the concentration (molarity, M) of dissolved salt from 0.2M to extremely low concentration (2.10^-17 M ). The Landau-Placzek ratio, R/B, of the Rayleigh scattering intensity over the total Brillouin, was measured thanks to the dynamically controlled stability of the used Fabry-Perot interferometer. It was observed that the R/B ratio follows two stages as a function of increasing dilution rate: after a strong decrease between 0.2M and 2.10^-5 M, it increases to reach a maximum between 10^-9 M and 10^-16 M. The first stage corresponds to the decrease of the Rayleigh scattering by the ion concentration fluctuations with the decrease of salt concentration. The second stage, at lower concentrations, is consistent with the increase of the Rayleigh scattering by long-lived sub-microscopic bubbles with the decrease of ion concentration. The origin of these sub-microscopic bubbles is the shaking of the solutions which was carried out after each centesimal dilution. The very long lifetime of the sub-microscopic bubbles and the effects of aging originate in the electric charge of bubbles. The increase of R/B with the decrease of the low salt concentration corresponds to the increase of the sub-microscopic bubble size with the decrease of concentration, that is imposed by the bubble stability due to the covering of the surface bubble by negative ions.