Differentiating bulk nanobubbles from nanodroplets and nanoparticles
Review article, 2021

History has shown that it is not as easy as one might think to differentiate between bulk nanobubbles and nanodroplets or nanoparticles. It is generally easy to detect colloids (i.e. something that looks different, e.g. scatters light differently than its surrounding solvent), but less easy to determine the nature of these colloids. This has led to misinterpretations in the literature, where nanodroplets or nanoparticles have mistakenly been assumed to be nanobubbles. In this paper, we review a multitude of experimental methods and approaches to prove the existence of bulk nanobubbles. We conclude that combinations of optical detection with physical perturbations such as pressure or ultrasound, or phase-sensitive holographic methods are the most promising and convenient approaches.

Microbubbles

Dynamic light scattering

Nanoparticle tracking analysis

Ultrafine bubbles

Digital holographic microscopy

Nanobubbles

Colloidal dispersions

Author

Fredrik Eklund

Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics

Muidh Alheshibri

Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU)

Jan Swenson

Chalmers, Physics, Nano and Biophysics

Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science

1359-0294 (ISSN) 18790399 (eISSN)

Vol. 53 101427

Subject Categories

Medical Laboratory and Measurements Technologies

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Other Physics Topics

DOI

10.1016/j.cocis.2021.101427

More information

Latest update

3/26/2021