Nature-inspired coatings could power tiny chemistry labs for medical testing and more

Researchers develop polymer coating that enables low surface tension liquids to be transported over distances 15 times longer than currently possible, without losing any of the liquid

27-Oct-2021 - A newly developed coating that allows for certain liquids to move across surfaces without fluid loss could usher in new advances in a range of fields, including medical testing. This new coating— created in theDREAM (Durable Repellent Engineered Advanced Materials) Laboratory, led by University ...

Unprecedented view of a single catalyst nanoparticle at work

X-rays reveal compositional changes on active surface under reaction conditions

05-Oct-2021 - A DESY-led research team has been using high-intensity X-rays to observe a single catalyst nanoparticle at work. The experiment has revealed for the first time how the chemical composition of the surface of an individual nanoparticle changes under reaction conditions, making it more active. The ...

'Dancing' holes in droplets submerged in water-ethanol mixtures

03-Jul-2018 - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have observed the formation of holes that move by themselves in droplets of ionic liquids (IL) sitting inside water-ethanol mixtures. This curious, complex phenomenon is driven by an interplay between how ionic liquids dissolve, and how the boundary ...

Fast-spinning spheres show nanoscale systems' secrets

09-Feb-2018 - Spin a merry-go-round fast enough and the riders fly off in all directions. But the spinning particles in a Rice University lab do just the opposite. Experiments in the Rice lab of chemical engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal show micron-sized spheres coming together under the influence of a rapidly ...

Liquid-metal membrane technology to make hydrogen fuel cell vehicles viable

31-Aug-2017 - While cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells offer clear advantages over the electric vehicles that are growing in popularity (including their longer range, their lower overall environmental impact, and the fact that they can be refueled in minutes, versus hours of charging time), they have yet to ...

Semiliquid chains pulled out of a sea of microparticles

25-Jul-2017 - An electrode brought to the surface of a liquid that contains microparticles can be used to pull out surprisingly long chains of particles. Curiously enough, the particles in the chains are held together by a thin layer of liquid that covers them. This spectacular phenomenon, discovered with the ...

Spiky ferrofluid thrusters can move satellites

13-Jul-2017 - Brandon Jackson, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering at Michigan Technological University, has created a new computational model of an electrospray thruster using ionic liquid ferrofluid -- a promising technology for propelling small satellites through space. Specifically, Jackson ...

Mystery of colloidal chains solved

17-May-2017 - When Northwestern Engineering's Erik Luijten met Zbigniew Rozynek, they immediately became united by a mystery. Presenting at a conference in Norway, Rozynek, a researcher at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, demonstrated something that looked almost like magic. When he poked a ...

New fabric coating protects your clothes, and the environment

08-May-2017 - When you spill pasta sauce on your favorite shirt but there is no trace of it after being washed, you can thank oleophobicity, a resistance to oil commonly applied to textiles. That resistance, however, comes at a price. The coating that makes textiles oil resistant is fluorine-based and breaks ...

Simulations of laser pulse-material interactions

30-Mar-2017 - With the advent of laser technology in the 1960s, materials scientists gained a new tool to both study and modify materials. Today, lasers allow researchers to manipulate materials on atomic and subatomic levels, leading to new materials and a host of other applications. For instance, by ...