Scientists have boosted the applications of gas marbles — soap-like air bubbles stabilized by solid particles — by integrating them with cinnamon. Not only could this improve their overall stability, but could open up new possibilities for their use in gastronomy.
Gas marbles, more specifically, are tiny, hollow spheres created by trapping a gas bubble inside a thin shell of colloidal particles. As mentioned above, this makes gas marbles similar to soap bubbles, but whereas soap bubbles are delicate and pop very easily, gas marbles are strong and can resist popping for long periods — even years.
The stability and mechanical properties of gas marbles make them suitable for applications in surface catalysis of chemical reactions and as sensors to detect chemicals or even shocks and vibrations.
Currently, gas marbles are created with non-edible particles and can only remain stable for long periods when glycerol is introduced. In addition to this, controlling the size of these non-edible gas marbles is challenging.
Stabilizing with cinnamon
Cinnamon could be the answer to these challenges, according to a new paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Gas marbles based on cinnamon or other common edible particles hold great promise for diverse applications in food science due to their unique properties, which take advantage of engineered sensory effects and appearance.
“We opted to use cinnamon particles as the stabilizing agent for gas marbles because of their unique non-spherical shape. Until now, all particles used to stabilize gas marbles have been spherical and non-edible, making our approach with cinnamon a novel and innovative choice,” said Anne-Laure Fameau of the French National Institute for Agriculture.
“Unlike previous studies using spherical particles, the irregularly shaped micrometer-sized cinnamon edible particles demonstrate remarkable long-term stability through jamming and interlocking at the air-liquid interface,” she said.
The proof is in the pudding
Fameau added that the resultant gas marbles exhibited exceptional resilience against drying, heating, freezing, and mechanical stress. These cinnamon-infused gas marbles could bounce off a surface without any visible breakage, reaching a height of 6.6 feet (2 meters).
The jamming and interlocking of irregularly shaped, micrometer-sized cinnamon particles where air inside the gas marbles meets the liquid of the outer shell lend these new gas marbles their long-term stability with water and a wide range of other consumable liquids.
“In molecular gastronomy, the creation of liquid-filled spheres, known as spherification, is a well-known technique,” Fameau said. “For the first time, we present an innovative and straightforward method to produce spheres not filled with liquid but with gas.
“These small, crunchy spheres can be used to decorate a variety of dishes, including desserts, ice cream, and meats, due to their remarkable resistance to freezing, heating, and other environmental conditions.”
Of course, cinnamon might not be to your personal taste. But don’t worry; the team’s edible gas marbles are fully customizable, and this research is just the first step in the fusion of gas marbles and edible particles. Excitingly, the use of different edible particles could result in gas marbles with different properties and appearances.
“They can be fabricated with various edible liquids, offering extensive customization possibilities,” Fameau concluded. “There is a wide range of edible particles which could also be suitable to produce edible gas marbles: cocoa particles, curcuma, and more, but they still need to be studied in detail.”
Reference: Anne-Laure Fameau, Syuji Fujii, et al., Cinnamon Particle-Stabilized Gas Marbles: A Novel Approach for Enhanced Stability and Versatile Applications, Advanced Functional Materials (2024). DOI:10.1002/adfm.202409926
