New mechanism of breaking the water layer of air bubbles discovered
New mechanism of breaking the water layer of air bubbles discovered
During the pandemic, the joint work of the chemical engineering groups of Professor Pier Luca Maffettone of the University of Naples Federico II and Professor Gerald Fuller of Stanford University led to the discovery of a new mechanism for breaking down the thin layer of water that encloses air bubbles.
The paper detailing the discovery has just been published in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences.
The rupture mechanism has been named"flowering" because the bubble opens forming petals like the blooming of a flower, and may have applications in stabilizing biopharmaceuticals, preventing cell death in bioreactors, and even understanding nutrient dispersion in nature.
The experiments were conducted in the Piazzale Tecchio laboratories by Daniele Tammaro, Luigi Davide Gala and Ernesto Di Maio using high-speed imaging techniques.
Visualization of bubble rupture allowed them to unveil this new mechanism observed when proteins are added to water, which, by distributing themselves on the surface, give the thin layer of liquid a viscoelastic nature.
The phenomenon was interpreted with a theoretical model that allowed understanding of the rupture mechanism and the effect of the chemical and physical parameters that control it.
Written by Redazione c/o COINOR: redazionenews@unina.it | redazionesocial@unina.it