Effect of salt concentration on the antibubble lifetime

Abstract

Abstract Antibubble lifetime has attracted increasing attention since it limits the practical applications of antibubbles. This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of salt concentration on the antibubble lifetime. With a uniform salt solution by fully stirring, the antibubble lifetime is observed to increase first but then decrease with the salt concentration. The lifetime extension is not significant. However, in a nonuniform salt solution without stirring, the generated heavy antibubbles suspended near the container’s bottom have a much longer lifetime, about an order of magnitude higher. Along with the free dissolution of salt, a blurred liquid layer emerges near the container’s bottom due to the formation of worm-like micelles. These micelles endow the liquid viscoelastic properties and slow down the air drainage in the film, leading to a significantly longer lifetime. This study provides a feasible method to investigate the air drainage in the film because of the slow drainage speed. Moreover, the long lifetime makes the following experimental processes of antibubbles more convenient.