Synergistic Effects of Initial Volume and Physical Properties on Instability and Bubble Formation in Acoustically Levitated Droplets

Synergistic Effects of Initial Volume and Physical Properties on Instability and Bubble Formation in Acoustically Levitated Droplets | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Synergistic Effects of Initial Volume and Physical Properties on Instability and Bubble Formation in Acoustically Levitated Droplets Lu Zhang, Qiang Zhang, Dongxiang Wang, Fangyang Yuan, Xinjun Yang, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8212501/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Experiments in Fluids → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study systematically investigates instability evolution and bubble formation in acoustically levitated droplets. Experiments using working fluids with distinct physical properties - deionized water, SDS solutions, glycerol solutions, and ethanol solutions across various initial volumes identified four distinct instability modes: edge-splash, central-fountain, mixed atomization, and collapse-induced bubble formation. Results demonstrate droplet instability is governed by synergistic effects of physical parameters. Initial volume determines deformation patterns, surface tension controls collapse depth, while viscosity influences deformation rate and bubble stability. Low surface tension accelerates collapse and high viscosity suppresses internal flows. Bubble formation requires a critical initial volume that decreases with lower surface tension but varies nonmonotonically with volatility. Stable secondary bubbling occurs in pure ethanol droplets (25–60 µL), demonstrating roles of liquid-film integrity and curvature. Larger droplets show reduced acoustic responsiveness, while elevated ethanol concentrations enhance both bubble growth and levitation stability. This research provides fundamental insights into coupled parameter effects governing acoustically levitated droplets, supporting advances in acoustic levitation control and containerless processing technologies. Acoustic levitation Droplet instability Bubbling behaviour Surface tension Viscosity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 16 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Experiments in Fluids → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 19 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 19 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 30 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 27 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 26 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8212501","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":557574729,"identity":"ef096c02-2774-48bc-892b-dfc996f2d34e","order_by":0,"name":"Lu Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangnan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":557574730,"identity":"231fa076-668c-46fa-ba70-1c85ae394a61","order_by":1,"name":"Qiang Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jiangnan 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Droplets","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"experiments-in-fluids","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"exif","sideBox":"Learn more about [Experiments in Fluids](http://link.springer.com/journal/348)","snPcode":"348","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/348/3","title":"Experiments in Fluids","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Acoustic levitation, Droplet instability, Bubbling behaviour, Surface tension, Viscosity","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8212501/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8212501/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study systematically investigates instability evolution and bubble formation in acoustically levitated droplets. Experiments using working fluids with distinct physical properties - deionized water, SDS solutions, glycerol solutions, and ethanol solutions across various initial volumes identified four distinct instability modes: edge-splash, central-fountain, mixed atomization, and collapse-induced bubble formation. Results demonstrate droplet instability is governed by synergistic effects of physical parameters. Initial volume determines deformation patterns, surface tension controls collapse depth, while viscosity influences deformation rate and bubble stability. Low surface tension accelerates collapse and high viscosity suppresses internal flows. Bubble formation requires a critical initial volume that decreases with lower surface tension but varies nonmonotonically with volatility. Stable secondary bubbling occurs in pure ethanol droplets (25\u0026ndash;60 \u0026micro;L), demonstrating roles of liquid-film integrity and curvature. Larger droplets show reduced acoustic responsiveness, while elevated ethanol concentrations enhance both bubble growth and levitation stability. This research provides fundamental insights into coupled parameter effects governing acoustically levitated droplets, supporting advances in acoustic levitation control and containerless processing technologies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Synergistic Effects of Initial Volume and Physical Properties on Instability and Bubble Formation in Acoustically Levitated Droplets","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-12 12:02:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8212501/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-01-20T03:38:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-20T02:19:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-12-21T18:08:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"239527009971265818782240515231267329370","date":"2025-12-15T15:46:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"163180803477681834328967982523948054283","date":"2025-12-09T11:01:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-09T02:29:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-11-30T17:04:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-11-27T11:44:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Experiments in Fluids","date":"2025-11-26T11:27:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"experiments-in-fluids","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"exif","sideBox":"Learn more about [Experiments in Fluids](http://link.springer.com/journal/348)","snPcode":"348","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/348/3","title":"Experiments in Fluids","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"086c6bd3-7591-4bea-92c7-fc633ff87a64","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 12th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-23T16:01:00+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-8212501","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-026-04207-0","journal":{"identity":"experiments-in-fluids","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Experiments in Fluids"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-16 15:57:59","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 16th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-12 12:02:49","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s00348-026-04207-0","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-026-04207-0","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8212501","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8212501","identity":"rs-8212501","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}