Ostwald Ripening in Multiple-Bubble Nuclei

TL;DR

This study uses large-scale molecular dynamics simulations to analyze Ostwald ripening in bubbles, confirming theoretical predictions and revealing how temperature influences bubble growth dynamics.

Contribution

The paper provides the first direct simulation evidence of self-similar bubble-size distribution and explores temperature-dependent growth regimes in bubble coarsening.

Findings

Confirmed self-similarity of bubble-size distribution

Identified transition from interface-limited to diffusion-limited growth

Quantified how temperature affects coarsening exponents

Abstract

The ostwald ripening of bubbles is studied by molecular dynamics simulations involving up to 679 million Lennard-Jones particles. Many bubbles appear after depressurizing a system that is initially maintained in the pure-liquid phase, and the coarsening of bubbles follows. The self-similarity of the bubble-size distribution function predicted by Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner theory is directly confirmed. The total number of bubbles decreases asymptotically as $t^{-x}$ with scaling exponent $x$. As the initial temperature increases, the exponent changes from $x=3/2$ to $1$, which implies that the growth of bubbles changes from interface-limited (the $t^{1/2}$ law) to diffusion-limited (the $t^{1/3}$ law) growth.