Molecular Simulations of Bubble Formation in Metastable Liquids

The nucleation of gas bubbles in a metastable liquid is a phenomenon central to many applications, ranging from sonochemistry, cavitation and explosive boiling. However, despite its significance, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have remained poorly understood. One of the reasons accounting for this is the difficulty in identifying and characterizing the incipient gas bubble, given a snapshot of the metastable system. In this work, we carry out molecular simulations of the bubble nucleation process, identify the free energy barrier of nucleation involved and discussed the interplay between void and bubble formation during this process.