Mechanism for Stability of Ultrafine Bubbles

Abstract

One of the mysteries in ultrafine bubbles is their long lifetime in spite of the fact that the gas diffusion theory predicts the very short lifetime of 20 s-80 s for ultrafine bubbles of 100 nm-200 nm in diameter in liquid water saturated with air. In the present review, 8 proposed models for the stability of ultrafine bubbles are discussed. In addition, we propose the dynamic equilibrium model of an ultrafine bubble partly covered with hydrophobic material.