Strong shear flows release gaseous nuclei from surface micro- and nanobubbles

Surface attached micro- and nanobubbles are long-lived gaseous domains which are remarkably difficult to move or destroy. By creating a localized shear flow of sufficient shear rate from jets of cavitation bubbles, we observe that surface attached micro- and nanobubbles form long gaseous tethers, leading to the pinch-off and release of submicroscopic daughter bubbles, i.e. streaming gaseous nuclei. Detailed three-dimensional simulations and theoretical analysis show that the condition for pinch-off is dependent on the capillary number coupled with the Rayleigh-Plateau instability.