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Investigating the Existence of Bulk Nanobubbles with Ultrasound
Author(s) -
Leroy Valentin,
Norisuye Tomohisa
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201600576
Subject(s) - bubble , ultrasonic sensor , nanotechnology , chemical physics , materials science , ultrasound , chemistry , mechanics , acoustics , physics
Nanobubbles are expected to dissolve in milliseconds. Experimental evidence of nanobubbles that were stable for days had thus been first received with circumspection. If the large number of experimental confirmations has now made clear that surface nanobubbles could exist, bulk nanobubbles are still subject to debate. When observations are reported, the main problem is to make sure the observed particles are really made of gas. We show that ultrasound is an ideal tool for investigating the existence of bulk nanobubbles: 1) it is sensitive to minute quantities of gas, 2) it allows one to determine the bubble size distribution, 3) it discriminates unambiguously between gaseous and solid/liquid inclusions. To illustrate the efficiency of ultrasonic detection, we performed size measurements of bubbles produced by a commercial nano‐/microbubble generator. No nanobubble was detected with this device. It would be insightful to use ultrasonic detection in experimental situations for which stable nanobubbles were reported.