Year: 2012
Type: preprint
Abstract: The existence of surface nanobubbles has been previously suggested using various experimental techniques, including attenuated total reflection spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, neutron reflectometry, and x-ray reflectivity, but all of these techniques provide a sole number to quantify the existence of gas over (usually) hundreds of square microns. Thus `nanobubbles' are indistinguishable from a `uniform gassy layer' between surface and liquid. Atomic force microscopy, on the other hand, does show the existence of surface nanobubbles, but the highly intrusive nature of the technique means that a uniform gassy layer could break down into nanobubbles \textit{due to} the motion of the microscope's probe. Here we demonstrate \textit{optical} visualisation of surface nanobubbles, thus validating their individual existence non-intrusively.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1515441646