Hydrophilic Domains Enhance Nanobubble Stability

Highly stable nanoscale gas states at solid/liquid interfaces, referred to as nanobubbles, have been widely studied for over a decade. In this study, nanobubbles generated on a hydrophobic Teflon amorphous fluoroplastic thin film in the presence and absence of hydrophilic carbon domains are investigated by peak force quantitative nanomechanics. On the hydrophobic surface without hydrophilic domains, a small number of nanobubbles are generated and then rapidly decrease in size. On the hydrophobic surface with hydrophilic domains, the hydrophilic domains have a significant effect on the generation and stability of nanobubbles, with bubbles remaining on the surface for up to three days. Bigger, better bubbles: The enhancement of nanobubble generation and stability by the existence of hydrophilic domains on a surface is shown (see picture). Close to the Ti/Si boundary, many nanobubbles are generated on the relatively hydrophobic Si surface. The hydrophilic-hydrophobic combination is one of the key factors for nanobubble generation and stabilization.