Dynamics of nanoscale bubbles growing in a tapered conduit

Abstract: We predict the dynamics and shapes of nanobubbles growing in a supersaturated solution confined within a tapered, Hele-Shaw device with a small opening angle $\Phi \ll 1$. Our study is inspired by experimental observations of the growth and translation of nanoscale bubbles, ranging in diameter from tens to hundreds of nanometers, carried out with liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy. In our experiments, the electron beam plays a dual role: it supersaturates the solution with gaseous radiolysis products, which lead to bubble nucleation and growth, and it provides a means to image the bubbles in-situ with nanoscale resolution. To understand our experimental data, we propose a migration mechanism, based on Blake-Haynes theory, which is applicable in the asymptotic limits of zero capillary and Bond numbers and high confinement. Consistent with experimental data, our model predicts that in the presence of confinement, growth rates are orders of magnitude slower compared to a bubble growing in the bulk and that the combination of a tapered channel and contact line pinning create tear-drop shaped bubbles.