The Eyeball Effect: A Property of Thin Shell Encapsulated Bubbles
Bubbles encapsulated in very thin shells deform into "eyeballs" when placed in 100 C water over a period of time. The "eyeball effect" is caused by water pushing up against the bubble; water enters the shell through cracks in the shell.
A deliberately cracked thick shelled bubble is seen in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of dried encapsulated bubbles on the upper right; this crack was purposely made using a razor blade to show the rigid nature of the shells. The SEM image was taken by Esther Amstad.
"Red eye" bubbles are produced by filling a temperature bath with red dyed water and heating the bath to 100 C . An image of one "red-eyed" bubble is shown to the right in the optical microscope image.
Finally, comparison of bubbles with thin shells before and after submersion in a 100 C water bath is shown in the optical images below.