title: Growth dynamics and gas transport mechanism of nanobubbles in graphene liquid cells.
abstract: Formation, evolution and vanishing of bubbles are common phenomena in nature, which can be easily observed in boiling or falling water, carbonated drinks, gas-forming electrochemical reactions and so on. However, the morphology and the growth dynamics of the bubbles at nanoscale have not been fully investigated owing to the lack of proper imaging tools that can visualize nanoscale objects in the liquid phase. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that the nanobubbles in water encapsulated by graphene membrane can be visualized by in-situ ultra-high vacuum transmission electron microscopy. Our microscopic results indicate two distinct growth mechanisms of merging nanobubbles and the existence of a critical radius of nanobubbles that determines the unusually long stability of nanobubbles. Interestingly, the gas transport through ultrathin water membranes at nanobubble interface is free from dissolution, which is clearly different from conventional gas transport that includes condensation, transmission and evaporation.
authors: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Dongha
authors: D
authors: Shin
authors: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Jong Bo
authors: JB
authors: Park
authors: 1] Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea [2] Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors: Yong-Jin
authors: YJ
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Sang Jin
authors: SJ
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Jin Hyoun
authors: JH
authors: Kang
authors: Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Bora
authors: B
authors: Lee
authors: National Center for Inter-University Research Facilities, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors: Sung-Pyo
authors: SP
authors: Cho
authors: Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Suwon 443-270, Korea.
authors: Byung Hee
authors: BH
authors: Hong
authors: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
authors: Konstantin S
authors: KS
authors: Novoselov