Transmission electron microscopic observations of nanobubbles and their capture of impurities in wastewater

Abstract

Unique properties of micro- and nanobubbles (MNBs), such as a high adsorption of impurities on their surface, are difficult to verify because MNBs are too small to observe directly. We thus used a transmission electron microscope (TEM) with the freeze-fractured replica method to observe oxygen (O2) MNBs in solutions. MNBs in pure water and in 1% NaCl solutions were spherical or oval. Their size distribution estimated from TEM images close to that of the original solution is measured by light-scattered methods. When we applied this technique to the observation of O2 MNBs formed in the wastewater of a sewage plant, we found the characteristic features of spherical MNBs that adsorbed surrounding impurity particles on their surface.