Issue 14, 2014

Dissolution without disappearing: multicomponent gas exchange for CO2 bubbles in a microfluidic channel

Abstract

We studied the dissolution dynamics of CO2 gas bubbles in a microfluidic channel, both experimentally and theoretically. In the experiments, spherical CO2 bubbles in a flow of a solution of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) first shrink rapidly before attaining an equilibrium size. In the rapid dissolution regime, the time to obtain a new equilibrium is 30 ms regardless of SDS concentration, and the equilibrium radius achieved varies with the SDS concentration. To explain the lack of complete dissolution, we interpret the results by considering the effects of other gases (O2, N2) that are already dissolved in the aqueous phase, and we develop a multicomponent dissolution model that includes the effect of surface tension and the liquid pressure drop along the channel. Solutions of the model for a stationary gas bubble show good agreement with the experimental results, which lead to our conclusion that the equilibrium regime is obtained by gas exchange between the bubbles and liquid phase. Also, our observations from experiments and model calculations suggest that SDS molecules on the gas–liquid interface form a diffusion barrier, which controls the dissolution behaviour and the eventual equilibrium radius of the bubble.

Graphical abstract: Dissolution without disappearing: multicomponent gas exchange for CO2 bubbles in a microfluidic channel

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Mar 2014
Accepted
16 May 2014
First published
30 May 2014

Lab Chip, 2014,14, 2428-2436

Dissolution without disappearing: multicomponent gas exchange for CO2 bubbles in a microfluidic channel

S. Shim, J. Wan, S. Hilgenfeldt, P. D. Panchal and H. A. Stone, Lab Chip, 2014, 14, 2428 DOI: 10.1039/C4LC00354C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements