A unified theory to describe the transition of stable nanobubbles to unstable microbubbles on homogeneous surface

TL;DR

This paper presents a unified model explaining how stable nanobubbles transition to unstable microbubbles on homogeneous surfaces, accounting for their long lifetime and specific physical characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive theoretical framework that describes the size-dependent stability and phase transition of surface bubbles, integrating experimental observations.

Findings

Nanobubbles exhibit long lifetimes and limited sizes.

Bubble stability depends on size and gas saturation.

The phase diagram predicts bubble growth, stability, or dissolution.

Abstract

Experiments have not only revealed the remarkably long lifetime of nanobubbles, but also demonstrated the diffusive instability of bubbles above micrometers, thus a full-scale physical understanding on the stability of bubbles is in urgent need. Herein, we develop a model that captures the state transition from the stable nanobubbles to the unstable microbubbles on homogeneous surfaces. The transition explains the typical long lifetime, limited height and small contact angle of surface nanobubbles observed in experiments. The consequent phase diagram shows that the bubble size and gas dissolving saturation determine the dynamic behaviors of surface bubbles, namely growth, stability, shrinkage or dissolution.