Surface assisted combustion of hydrogen-oxygen mixture in nanobubbles produced by electrolysis

The spontaneous combustion of hydrogen-oxygen mixture observed in nanobubbles at room temperature is a puzzling phenomenon that has no explanation in the standard combustion theory. We suggest that the hydrogen atoms needed to ignite the reaction could be generated on charged sites at the gas-liquid interface. Equations of chemical kinetics augmented by the surface dissociation of hydrogen molecules are solved, keeping the dissociation probability as a parameter. It is predicted that in contrast with the standard combustion, the surface-assisted process can proceed at room temperature, resulting not only in water, but also in a perceptible amount of hydrogen peroxide in the final state. The combustion time for the nanobubbles with a size of about 100 nm is in the range of 1-100 ns, depending on the dissociation probability.