While growth and dissolution of surface nanobubbles have been widely studied in recent years, their stability under pressure changes or a temperature increase has not received the same level of scrutiny. Here, we present theoretical predictions based on classical theory for pressure and temperature thresholds (pc and Tc) at which unstable growth occurs for the case of air nanobubbles on a solid surface in water. We show that bubbles subjected to pinning have much lower pc and higher Tc compared to both unpinned and bulk bubbles of similar size, indicating that pinned bubbles can withstand a larger tensile stress (negative pressure) and higher temperatures. The values of pc and Tc obtained from many-body dissipative particle dynamics simulations of quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) surface nanobubbles are consistent with the theoretical predictions, provided that the lateral expansion during growth is taken into account. This suggests that the modified classical thermodynamic description is valid for pinned bubbles as small as several nanometers. While some discrepancies still exist between our theoretical results and previous experiments, further experimental data are needed before a comprehensive understanding of the stability of surface nanobubbles can be achieved.
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14 July 2020
Research Article|
July 08 2020
Stability of pinned surface nanobubbles against expansion: Insights from theory and simulation
Yawei Liu
;
Yawei Liu
a)
1
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney
, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Stefano Bernardi;
Stefano Bernardi
b)
1
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney
, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Asaph Widmer-Cooper
Asaph Widmer-Cooper
c)
1
ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney
, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
2
The University of Sydney Nano Institute, University of Sydney
, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
c)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: asaph.widmer-cooper@sydney.edu.au
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c)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: asaph.widmer-cooper@sydney.edu.au
J. Chem. Phys. 153, 024704 (2020)
Article history
Received:
May 11 2020
Accepted:
June 18 2020
Citation
Yawei Liu, Stefano Bernardi, Asaph Widmer-Cooper; Stability of pinned surface nanobubbles against expansion: Insights from theory and simulation. J. Chem. Phys. 14 July 2020; 153 (2): 024704. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0013223
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