Development of an energy-efficient nanobubble generator

纳米气泡是水中的充气气泡，其典型直径在~100 nm范围内。大体积水溶液中的纳米气泡只是最近才受到集中的科学研究，这项工作已经引发了相当大的兴趣和兴奋。虽然关于散装纳米气泡仍然存在许多问题，但它们具有几个一致报道的特征，最值得注意的是在水中长期稳定（例如数月）。已经确定，纳米气泡可以显著增加水中存在的气体的总量（例如，已经报道了>20倍的值），因此它们可以充当推动气体溶解度极限的缓冲剂。纳米气泡非常小的尺寸导致其具有非常大的表面积与体积比（提供极高的气体传输速率）和可忽略不计的浮力。纳米气泡在依赖于溶解在水中的气体的广泛应用领域具有巨大的影响潜力，从水处理和环境应用到能源创新和食品生产。例如，空气/氧气纳米气泡可以增加废水生物处理中的氧气供应，并因此减少曝气所需的能量（目前占总量的55-70%），从而显著降低了废水处理中的总能耗。将纳米气泡的使用限制到这一点的主要限制是其有效产生的挑战，例如高能耗，适度的浓度和缺乏可扩展性。该研究项目将建立在最近发表的革命性技术的基础上，其中电场用于催化纳米气泡的产生。与现有方法相比，这种新方法所需的能量减少了约1000倍，从而克服了迄今为止限制纳米气泡的潜在影响和广泛应用的关键限制。该项目将专注于将这一突破性技术从研究概念发展为功能性实验室原型发电机，具有节能，连续流动，多级，可扩展的设计。

Nanobubbles are gas-filled bubbles in water with typical diameters in the ~100 nm range. Nanobubbles in bulk aqueous solution have only recently come under focused scientific investigation, and this work has already triggered considerable interest and excitement. While many questions remain regarding bulk nanobubbles, they possess several consistently reported features, most notably being stable in water over long periods (e.g. months). It has been established that nanobubbles can dramatically enhance the total amount of gas present in water (e.g. values of >20-fold have been reported), and hence they can act as buffers that push the limits of gas solubility. Their very small size results in nanobubbles having very large surface area to volume ratios (affording extremely high gas transfer rates) and negligible buoyancy.Nanobubbles have potential for tremendous impact across a wide range of application areas that rely on gases dissolved in water, ranging from water treatment and environmental applications to energy innovation and food production. For example, air/oxygen nanobubbles can increase the supply of oxygen in wastewater biological treatment, and therefore decrease the amount of energy required for aeration (currently 55-70% of the total) thereby significantly reducing the overall energy consumption in wastewater treatment.A major limitation that has restricted the use of nanobubbles to this point has been challenges with their efficient generation, e.g. high-energy costs, modest concentrations and lack of scalability. This research project will build upon a recently published revolutionary technology where electric fields are used to catalyze nanobubble generation. This novel approach requires ~1000-fold less energy compared to current methods, thereby overcoming the crucial limitation that has thus far restricted the potential impacts and widespread application of nanobubbles. This project will focus on developing this breakthrough technology from a research concept to a functioning laboratory prototype generator, featuring an energy-efficient, continuous-flow, multistage, scalable design.