Scientists seem to have unravelled a secret — how bubbles bounce apart and fuse together. It could open the way to superior and better tasting ice-cream and champagne as well as increase efficiency in the mining industry.
A team of chemical engineers, chemists and mathematicians led by Raymond Dagastine, professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, University of Melbourne (UM) are measuring the force between bubbles during a collision.
“By understanding how bubbles bounce off each other and mould together, we will be able to improve things like the stability of ice-cream and the stability of bubbles in champagne,” says Dagastine.
“The findings could also be used to improve water waste treatment, and increase efficiency in the mining industry,” he says.
The force between bubbles during collision was previously too tiny to measure, said a UM release.
However, thanks to advances in technology such as nanofabrication facilities and Atomic Force Microscope, the team was able to study bubbles colliding at various speeds.
These findings were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
