The multi-scale microstructure of a lotus leaf is rendered non-wetting by micro-protrusions and nano-hairs present on its surface. The mechanical properties of the surface become important since the water droplet has to be supported on the micro-protrusions without wetting the surface. Current work correlates the non-wetting behavior of the lotus leaf with its mechanical properties (Young's mod...

We observe the ultrafast capture and release of charge carriers in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) at room-temperature with time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy. For excitation into the barrier states, a decay of the photoinduced conductivity, due to capture of carriers into the nonconducting QD states is observed. The increase of the decay time constant with increasing pump fluence is attribute...

In this work, dynamically tunable, superlyophobic surfaces capable of undergoing a transition from profound superlyophobic behavior to almost complete wetting have been demonstrated for the first time. In the initial state, with no voltage applied, these surfaces exhibit contact angles as high as 150 degrees for a wide variety of liquids with surface tensions ranging from 21.8 mN/m (ethanol) to...

Normal bladder function is the product of the complex interaction between storage and emptying. It requires a compliant bladder of adequate volume, and eVective sphincter and detrusor muscles with appropriately coordinated contraction and relaxation. Storage is facilitated by release of noradrenaline from the branches of the sympathetic nervous system stimulating contraction of the sphincters i...

The dynamics of liquid condensation on a substrate or within a capillary is studied when the wetting film grows via interface-limited growth. We use a phenomenological time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL)-type model with long-range substrate potential. Using an order parameter, which does not directly represent the density, we can derive an analytic formula for the interfacial growth velocity ...

Wetting phenomena plays an interesting role in the technological development of materials. Recently, much attention has been directed to the study of magnetic solid films. To understand, theoretically, the effect of surface on wetting and layering transitions in these systems, we will give in this chapter a presentation of several relevant recent theoretical works realized on wetting and layeri...

The initial soil water content affects wetting front instability. A series of experiments were conducted where water was infiltrated into a 20/30 sand with initial volumetric water contents of 0, 0.005, 0.01, 0.015, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.047 cm/cm. Both water content and matric potential were measured. Water content was measured with Synchrotron X-rays at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron So...

We present an extension of equilibrium wetting to nonequilibrium situations particularly suited to systems with anisotropic interactions. Both critical and complete wetting transitions were found and characterized. We have identified a region in the space of parameters (temperature and chemical potential) where the wet and non-wet phases coexist. Emphasis is made on the analogies and difference...

We report a sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy study of d-glucose, d-fructose and sucrose in the CH stretching vibration regime. Wetting effect on the SFG spectra was investigated. The SFG spectrum of d-glucose changed from that of α-d-glucose into those of α-d-glucose monohydrate by wetting. The SFG spectra showed evidence of a small change of β-d-fructopyranose into other anomers by ...

This paper reports the effect of superficial liquid mass flow rate and bed void fraction on the pressure drop, dynamic liquid hold-up, mean liquid residence time and biofilm wetting, in a co-current down-flow xylene-removing trickle bed air biofilter (TBAB). The gas–liquid pressure drop increased with liquid mass flow rate and it also increased with diminishing bed void fraction, the effect bei...