Effect of surface viscoelasticity on top jet drops produced by bursting bubbles

Abstract

Jet drops resulting from bubble bursting at a liquid surface play a key role in various mass transfer processes across the interface, including sea spray aerosol generation and pathogen transmission. However, the impact of structurally compound interfaces, characterized by complex surface rheology introduced by surface-active contaminants, on the jet drop ejection still remains unclear. Here, we experimentally investigate the influence of surface viscoelasticity on the size and velocity of the top jet drops from surface bubble bursting, examining both pure protein and mixed protein–surfactant solutions. We document that for bubble bursting at a pure-protein-laden surface where surface elasticity dominates, the increase in E_c, i.e. the interfacial elastocapillary number as the ratio between the effects of interfacial elasticity and capillarity, efficiently increases the radius and decreases the velocity of the top jet drop, ultimately inhibiting the jet drop ejection. On the other hand, considering the mixed protein–surfactant solution, we show that the top jet drop radius and velocity exhibit a different variation trend with E_c, which is attributed to the additional dissipation on the capillary waves as well as the retardation and resistance on the converging flow for jet formation from surface viscoelasticity. Our work may advance the understanding of bubble bursting dynamics at contaminated liquid surfaces and shed light on the potential influence of surface viscoelasticity on the generation of bubble bursting aerosols.