77th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 24, 2024 — November 26, 2024)

P2690563: Beads-on-a-String Structured Jets Produced by Bursting Bubbles with a Viscoelastic Coating

• View Larger
• Download Original

Authors

• Sainath Barbhai, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Zhengyu Yang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Jie Feng, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2024.GFM.P2690563

Bubbles rising through marine columns can scavenge contaminants due to flow mechanics and physical chemistry, including biocontaminants such as microbial extracellular polymeric substances (highly hydrated polymers that are mainly composed of polysaccharides, proteins, and DNA). These biocontaminants introduce intricate three-dimensional polymeric networks, forming a viscoelastic layer at the bubbles' surfaces. When such a contaminated bubble with a viscoelastic coating reaches the air-liquid interface and bursts, it produces a distinct 'beads-on-a-string' pattern during the formation of the resulting Worthington jet, and ejects these biocontaminants as small drops into the atmosphere. Therefore, understanding the bursting dynamics of contaminated bubbles is crucial, as it plays a key role in the airborne transmission of biocontaminants within marine ecosystems.