Einstein–Stokes relation for small bubbles at the nanoscale

Abstract

As the physicochemical properties of ultrafine bubble systems are governed by their size, it is crucial to determine the size and distribution of such bubble systems. At present, the size or size distribution of nanometer-sized bubbles in suspension is often measured by either dynamic light scattering or the nanoparticle tracking analysis. Both techniques determine the bubble size via the Einstein–Stokes equation based on the theory of the Brownian motion. However, it is not yet clear to which extent the Einstein–Stokes equation is applicable for such ultrafine bubbles. In this work, using atomic molecular dynamics simulation, we evaluate the applicability of the Einstein–Stokes equation for gas nanobubbles with a diameter less than 10 nm, and for a comparative analysis, both vacuum nanobubbles and copper nanoparticles are also considered. The simulation results demonstrate that the diffusion coefficient for rigid nanoparticles in water is found to be highly consistent with the Einstein–Stokes equation, with slight deviation only found for nanoparticle with a radius less than 1 nm. For nanobubbles, including both methane and vacuum nanobubbles, however, large deviation from the Einstein–Stokes equation is found for the bubble radius larger than 3 nm. The deviation is attributed to the deformability of large nanobubbles that leads to a cushioning effect for collision-induced bubble diffusion.