French physicists have created similarities of soap bubbles that do not burst for more than a year. The corresponding article was published in Physical Review Fluids.

Bubbles acquire a spherical shape due to the force of surface tension. The larger the surface area of ​​the bubbles, the more energy is required to maintain it, and therefore they tend to take on a shape with a minimum area - that is, a sphere.

However, under normal conditions - in the usual atmosphere for people indoors or outdoors - the bubbles burst in a few minutes. This is because the liquid gradually flows down and evaporates, and the wall becomes too thin. This process can be slowed down by introducing surfactants into the liquid.

Aymeric Roux of the University of Lille and several colleagues experimented with three different types of bubbles: standard soap bubbles, water-based foam-walled bubbles, and water-glycerine-based foam-walled bubbles. The foam was formed by introducing hydrophobic plastic microparticles, which covered the water microdroplets and closed it from the environment.

To produce the bubbles, the scientists scattered microplastic particles over the surface of the liquid and injected air under them with a syringe. As a result, bubbles from pure water burst in about an hour. If glycerin, which prevents evaporation, is added to the water, the bubbles could live up to 465 days. Scientists suggest that as a result, the collapse of the bubbles was facilitated by the reproduction of microscopic organisms in them.

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