Aerophilic debubbling
Abstract
Gas bubbles frequently accumulate at liquid interfaces, compromising throughput, selectivity, and stability across scales from microfluidics to natural ecosystems. Here, we experimentally show that highly permeable aerophilic membranes placed on a liquid-air interface annihilate bubbles within milliseconds. This ultrafast regime appears only above a critical permeability threshold, where the flow departs from classical Darcy-driven dynamics in micropores. We quantitatively characterize this aerophilicity-mediated debubbling process by examining local interactions at the scale of single bubbles approaching the membrane and identify three asymptotic evacuation regimes, the physics of which we capture through simple scaling laws.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization
Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
Micro and Nano Robotics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Volume
- 123
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e2526444123–e2526444123
- Publication date
- 23 February 2026
- Language
- EN