Researchers Use 50 Volts Of Electricity To Levitate Liquid Droplets On A Cushion Of Blue Light
Researchers from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission figured out a new way to levitate liquid and in doing so, happened to created a cool mini light show while the liquid droplet sparks as it floats above a blue glowing gap.
The initial goal of the research was to “explore the limits of the analogy between the boiling phenomenon and water electrolysis, which is the breakup of water into hydrogen and oxygen gases by an electric current,” according to an AIP Publishing news release detailing the work.
What they ended up with was a floating effect similar to Leidenfrost levitation where droplets dance on a hot vapor cushion.
They realized that by using a jolt of electricity (50 volts) to create the vapor instead of heat, they could ionize the gas into a plasma that looked like a glowing blue light.
“This method is probably an easy and original way to make a plasma,” said Cedric Poulain, a physicist at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission.
Poulain even thinks that eventually they could attach the liquid drop to a device and move the plasma along a surface.
How it happened
As previously mentioned, Poulain and his team set up a system that was going to run electricity through conductive droplets and then record the droplets at high-speed, for other research purposes. So they used a drop of weak hydrochloric acid, an electricity conductor, above a metal plate and then hit it with electricity. Once the drop touched the plate the electricity started flowing , and the water in the hydrochloric acid solution broke down to form hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Once electricity levels rose above 50 volts, the bottom of the droplet began sparking and then levitating. It rose right up over the surface of the metal plate and created a blue glow between the plate and the droplet.
The blue light was a completely unexpected result and, according to the team, probably the most exciting feature of the experiment. Although fifty volts is a low voltage, the gap between the droplet and the metal plate creates a high enough electric field necessary to generate a long-term and dense plasma with little energy.
