2019 participants
Ethan McGuigan
The production of liquid marbles, a droplet encapsulated in hydrophobic powder, has been well researched since their discovery in 2001. Recently, a similar phenomena was observed by Timounay when a volume of gas was enclosed in microparticles using a method analogous to blowing a bubble. This new technology can have significant implications for the future of gas storage, particularly because the strength of gas marbles is observed as tenfold that of their liquid counterpart. Their low permeability suggests potential in hydrogen storage for energy fuel cells and carbon capture methods. During my project, I succeeded in producing gas marbles with PMMA particles and a surfactant solution. I concluded that the hydrophobicity of the particles is critical to gas marble stability. Too low and a raft cannot be formed, too high and the particles slide off the bubble. In the future, further development in potential for gas storage should be examined.
Funding Source: Newcastle University
Project supervisors: Dr Steven Wang and Dr Vladimir Zivkovic