Preferential accumulation of dissolved gases at water-hydrophobic solid surfaces

Under normal conditions of 25°C and 1 atm, the concentration of air soluble in water is about 38 mL/L. This small amount of gases has been established experimentally as a key factor governing interactions between particulate interfaces in a wide range of industrial applications. The governing physics has been shown to be determined by the preferential accumulation of the dissolved gases at interfaces between water and hydrophobic solid surfaces such as graphite. Of the gases artificially dissolved into the system, carbon dioxide shows a very significant effect on the gas accumulation as interfacial nanobubbles and water-depleted nanometre layers. In this presentation the latest research developments in this area will be reviewed. Experimental results for the nanobubble structures and interaction forces obtained with atomic force microscopy and interfacial spectroscopy will be analysed and discussed