Open AccessImaging interfacial micro‐ and nano‐bubbles by scanning transmission soft X‐ray microscopy
Author(s) -
Zhang Lijuan,
Zhao Binyu,
Xue Lian,
Guo Zhi,
Dong Yaming,
Fang Haiping,
Tai Renzhong,
Hu Jun
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of synchrotron radiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 99
ISSN - 1600-5775
DOI - 10.1107/s0909049513003671
Subject(s) - synchrotron , nanometre , nanoscopic scale , materials science , microscopy , soft matter , transmission electron microscopy , silicon , nano , nanotechnology , silicon nitride , optics , chemistry , optoelectronics , composite material , physics , colloid
Synchrotron‐based scanning transmission soft X‐ray microscopy (STXM) with nanometer resolution was used to investigate the existence and behavior of interfacial gas nanobubbles confined between two silicon nitride windows. The observed nanobubbles of SF 6 and Ne with diameters smaller than 2.5 µm were quite stable. However, larger bubbles became unstable and grew during the soft X‐ray imaging, indicating that stable nanobubbles may have a length scale, which is consistent with a previous report using atomic force microscopy [Zhang et al. (2010), Soft Matter , 6 , 4515–4519]. Here, it is shown that STXM is a promising technique for studying the aggregation of gases near the solid/water interfaces at the nanometer scale.