#superhydrophobic

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

"Dew Point" Deposits Droplets

Artist Lily Clark loves to work in water. One of her recent sculptures, "Dew Point," uses superhydrophobic ceramic to grow and manipulate water droplets over and over and over.  (Video credit: L. Turczan; artwork by: L. Clark; via Colossal) Read the full article

[materialsscienceandengineering]

A breakthrough that could make ships nearly unsinkable

More than a century after the Titanic, the dream of unsinkable ships is still alive, and scientists may be closer than ever.

More than 100 years after the sinking of the Titanic, the idea of ships that cannot sink continues to motivate engineers. Researchers at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics have now taken a significant step toward that long-standing goal. They have developed a technique that makes ordinary metal tubes unsinkable -- meaning the tubes stay afloat regardless of how long they remain underwater or how much damage they sustain. The work was led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and physics and a senior scientist at URochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Guo and his colleagues detailed the new method in a study published in Advanced Functional Materials. Their approach focuses on modifying the inside surface of aluminum tubes by etching it to create microscopic and nanoscale pits. This textured surface becomes superhydrophobic, allowing it to strongly repel water and remain dry.

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[nasiolove]

Take a look at how water bounces and turns into beads on this surface applied with Nasiol Super Hydrophobic Coating (SHBC).⠀ ⠀ When the water droplet touches the surface where SHBC applied, the concentration creates a contact angle of 171 degrees between the surface and the water droplet, therefore it dramatically weakens the impact of ice, rain, and snow. 

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Insect Wings in Extreme Macro

Photographer Chris Perani is fascinated by the microstructures of insect wings, which he captures in "extreme macro" through focus stacking--letting us see wings in glorious micron-scale detail.  (Image credit: C. Perani; via Colossal)

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

Ice Discs Surf on Herringbones

Inspired by the roaming rocks of Death Valley, researchers went looking for ways to make ice discs self-propel. Leidenfrost droplets can self-propel on herringbone-etched surfaces, so the team used them here, as well. (Image and research credit: J. Tapochik et al.; via Ars Technica)

[fuckyeahfluiddynamics]

How Insects Fly in the Rain

Getting caught in the rain is annoying for us but has the potential to be deadly for smaller creatures like insects. So how do they survive a deluge?  (Video and image credit: Be Smart) Read the full article

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Superhydrophobic particles offer promising method to tackle water pollutants

Emerging pollutants are compounds—microplastics, oils, dyes, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, etc.—that end up in aquatic ecosystems and can pose an environmental and health risk. These pollutants, which are related to human activities, can be found in wastewater, and removing them represents a scientific, technological and societal challenge. Now, a study led by the University of Barcelona presents an innovative strategy based on using particles of a superhydrophobic nature to degrade pollutants that are difficult to remove from water. The paper by UB researchers Oriol Rius-Ayra and Núria Llorca-Isern, from the Characterization and Processes in Materials Science Research Group (CPCM), is published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. The results of the study open up new possibilities for the design of new superhydrophobic materials with multifunctional properties to remove persistent pollutants, a scientific objective that is one of the research group's lines of research.

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[materialsscienceandengineering]

Old tires find new life: Rubber particles strengthen superhydrophobic coatings against corrosion

Superhydrophobic materials offer a strategy for developing marine anti-corrosion materials due to their low solid-liquid contact area and low surface energy. However, existing superhydrophobic anti-corrosion materials often suffer from poor mechanical stability and inadequate long-term protection, limiting their practical application in real-world environments. To address this challenge, a research team led by Prof. Zhang Binbin from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) has developed a superhydrophobic composite coating with mechanical stability and long-term anti-corrosion performance by utilizing recycled tire rubber (RTR) particles as an armored skeleton structure. Their findings were recently published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

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