Small, Stable, and Monodispersed Bubbles Encapsulated with Biopolymers

A microfluidic route to producing small (<10 mu m) bubbles with a narrow size distribution and long-time (at least, up to one month) stability is reported. The bubbles are encapsulated with a protein-polysaccharide shell. The strategy includes the following events, occurring in sequence: (i) a microfluidic generation of bubbles from a mixture of CO2 and a minute amount of gases with low solubility in water, in an aqueous solution of lysozyme and sodium alginate; (ii) the dissolution of CO2 leading to the shrinkage of bubbles and a local increase in acidity of the medium; (iii) the deposition of lysozyme at the gas-water interface triggered by the local decrease in pH; (iv) the deposition of alginate onto the lysozyme shell, due to the electrostatically driven complexation of alginate with lysozyme.