Comment on “On the thermodynamic stability of bubbles, immiscible droplets, and cavities” by G. S. Manning, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020, 22, 17523

Abstract

In this comment, the thermodynamic analysis of the stability of nanobubbles is discussed in reference to the recent paper by Manning (G. S. Manning, On the Thermodynamic Stability of Bubbles,Immiscible Droplets, and Cavities, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020, 22, 17523–17531). It is argued that Manning's critcism on the classical Epstein–Plesset model of bubble stability is unwarranted, and that the Young–Laplace-equation must be understood as a fundamental law of the pressure difference across a curved interface regardless of the reaction of the gas in the bubble. Consequently, the internal pressure and the radius of a bubble are inherently linked, so that the net force considered in Manning's stability analysis does not exist.