Pinch-off dynamics of nanobubble-dispersed suspensions

Nanobubble dispersions have unique properties, such as increased stability, enhanced mass transfer and slow-rising velocity. Droplets saturated with nanobubbles find applications in pulmonary drug delivery, water treatment, and agricultural technology. Although the droplet pinch-off for monodisperse, bidisperse and polydisperse particulate suspensions is well documented, the effect of incorporating micro- and nanoscale bubbles on liquid thread breakup, and thus droplet formation, is still unknown. Herein, we investigate the pinch-off dynamics of a water-glycerol-surfactant solution in a surrounding oil medium, before and after the addition of micro- and nanobubbles. We report a noticeable difference in the thread length at pinch-off, and how bubbles affect the filament breakup process. Unlike the accelerating effects of particles on neck thinning dynamics, our preliminary data indicates that micro- and nanobubbles slow down the thinning process.