Enrichment of surface charge contributes to the stability of surface nanobubbles

Surface nanobubbles are spontaneously formed at the interface between hydrophobic surfaces and aqueous solutions, which show extraordinarily longer lifetime than that was predicted by the classical thermodynamics model. In the present work, by using a surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) to quantitatively measure the dissolution kinetics of individual surface nanobubbles in real time, we explored the effects of ionic strength and pH value on the dissolution rates (lifetime) of nanobubbles. The results revealed that nanobubbles could exist stably for a long time in low-concentration electrolyte solutions or high-concentration non-electrolyte solutions, while they dissolved quickly in high-concentration electrolyte solutions. With the increase of ionic strength, the dissolution rates were accelerated by 2–3 orders of magnitude, and thus the lifespan of these surface nanobubbles was significantly shortened. In addition to ionic strength, it was further found that, with the increase of acidity or alkalinity of the solution, the dissolution rates of the surface nanobubbles were faster than that in neutral solution. These results demonstrated that the interfacial charge enrichment significantly contributed to the extraordinary stability of the surface nanobubbles.