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Updated: Oct 29, 2025
08:10
Fizzy Extraction of Volatile Organic Compounds Combined with Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry
Published on: July 14, 2017
7.8K
Levitation of fizzy drops
Divya Panchanathan1, Philippe Bourrianne1, Philippe Nicollier1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Science Advances
|July 8, 2021
Summary
Active liquids like carbonated water can levitate at room temperature without external heat. This self-generated gas cushion effect, observed on superhydrophobic surfaces, offers a new path for liquid levitation.
Area of Science:
- Fluid dynamics
- Surface science
- Materials science
Background:
- The Leidenfrost effect describes liquid levitation on hot surfaces, offering unique properties but requiring high energy.
- Existing methods for liquid levitation are energy-intensive due to high thermal costs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore a novel approach for liquid levitation at ambient temperature without external forcing.
- To demonstrate self-levitation of active liquids using self-generated gas cushions.
- To generalize this phenomenon to various chemically reactive droplets.
Main Methods:
- Investigated carbonated water droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces.
- Analyzed the self-generation of gas cushions by fizzy drops.
- Extended the study to other chemically reactive droplets exhibiting similar behavior.
Main Results:
- Millimetric carbonated water drops levitate for approximately one minute on superhydrophobic surfaces.
- Self-generated gas cushions enable sustained levitation at ambient temperature.
- The Cassie-Baxter state transitions to a levitating regime for reactive droplets.
Conclusions:
- A new regime of ambient temperature liquid levitation using active liquids is demonstrated.
- This method offers an energy-efficient alternative to traditional Leidenfrost levitation.
- The findings pave the way for levitating nonvolatile liquids and developing novel applications.
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