The secret of eternal bubbles, discovered by IEMN researchers
Bubbles, eternal, which never burst, or almost ... it makes you dream!
This is the challenge taken up by Aymeric Roux, Alexis Duchesne and Michaël Baudoin of the Aiman-Films group, who discovered the recipe for bubbles that can maintain their spherical shape and remain liquid for 465 days. This performance was achieved by replacing the soap in a soap bubble with microparticles and the water with a mixture of water and glycerol. The microparticles help maintain the bubble structure by limiting drainage and the absorption of ambient moisture by glycerol compensates for evaporation, which are the two main causes of bubble bursting.
This record of longevity "which does not lack air" (Cf. Le Monde, 25/01/2022) has been particularly praised in the scientific press and in many media.
- The paper was published as a letter in Physical Review Fluids, and selected by the editor as an "Editor suggestion". It was selected by the APS (American Physical Society) journal press office for distribution to the scientific press and selected by APS Physics as a Highlights paper under the title "Everlasting bubbles and liquid films resisting drainage, evaporation, and nuclei-induced bursting".
- It was highlighted in Research Highlightsin the journal Nature.
- Finally, it has been relayed in many media including, among others, Le Monde: : « La recette des bulles qui n’éclatent jamais », Pour la science, Sciences et Vie, the BBC, France Inter, ... and other scientific media in Korea, Japan or even the United States.
