Ion-stabilized gas nanobubbles (the so-termed "bubstons") and their clusters are investigated in bulk aqueous solutions of NaCl at different ion concentrations by four independent laser diagnostic methods. It turned out that in the range of NaCl concentration 10(-6) < C < 1 M the radius of bubston remains virtually unchanged at a value of 100 nm. Bubstons and their clusters are a thermodynamically nonequilibrium phase, which has been demonstrated in experiments with magnetic stirrer at different stirring rates. Different regimes of the bubston generation, resulting from various techniques of processing the liquid samples, were explored.

Results of experiments with laser modulation interference microscopy and the Mueller-matrix scatterometry show that macroscopic scatterers of light waves are present in doubly distilled water free of external solid impurities. The experimental data can be interpreted using a computational model of micron-scale clusters composed of polydisperse air bubbles having effective radii of 70-90 nm. The fractal dimension of such clusters was evaluated as 2.4-2.8 and their concentration appeared to be approximately 10(6) cm(-3).

A qualitative model of the nucleation of stable bubbles in water at room temperature is suggested. This model is completely based on the property of the affinity of water at the nanometer scale; it is shown that under certain conditions the extent of disorder in a liquid starts growing, which results in a spontaneous decrease of the local density of the liquid and in the formation of nanometer-sized voids. These voids can serve as nuclei for the following generation of the so-called bubstons (the abbreviation for bubbles, stabilized by ions). The model of charging the bubstons by the ions, which are capable of adsorption, and the screening by a cloud of counter-ions, which are incapable of adsorption, is analyzed. It was shown that, subject to the charge of bubston, two regimes of such screening can be realized. At low charge of bubston the screening is described in the framework of the known linearized Debye-Huckel approach, when the sign of the counterion cloud preserves its sign everywhere in the liquid surrounding the bubston, whereas at large charge this sign is changed at some distance from the bubston surface. This effect provides the mechanism of the emergence of two types of compound particles having the opposite polarity, which leads to the aggregation of such compound particles by a ballistic kinetics.

In our recent work [Bunkin et al. Water 2013, 4, 129-154] it was first obtained that the water layer, having a size of several tens of micrometers and being adjacent to the swollen Nafion interface, is characterized by enhanced optical density; the refractive index of water at the interface is 1.46. Furthermore, the birefringence effect was observed in this layer. To explain these results, it has been hypothesized that because of "disentangling" of charged polymer chains from the Nafion surface toward the bulk of water, a photonic crystal close to the surface is formed [Bunkin et al. Water 2013, 4, 129-154]. In this paper, we describe experiments with laser-stimulated luminescence from dry and swollen Nafion. It was shown in the experiment with dry Nafion that the apparatus function of our experimental setup (Green's function) is well-described by a Gaussian profile. It was obtained that a highly concentrated colloidal suspension of Nafion particles with a steep spatial boundary is formed in the water layer adjacent to the interface. The volume density of the Nafion particles as a function of the distance from the Nafion interface was found. These findings can be considered indirect confirmation of the previously formulated photonic crystal hypothesis [Bunkin et al. Water 2013, 4, 129-154].

It is shown that water contains defects in the form of heterogeneous optical breakdown centers. Long-living complexes composed of gas and liquid molecules may serve as nuclei for such centers. A new technique for removing dissolved gas from water is developed. It is based on a "helium washing" routine. The structure of helium-washed water is very different from that of water containing dissolved atmospheric gas. It is able to withstand higher optical intensities and temperatures of superheating compared with the nonprocessed ones. The characteristics of plasma spark and values of the breakdown thresholds for processed and nonprocessed samples are given.