New aspects of surface wetting revealed

Findings may thus enable developing new strategies for surface processing

16-Nov-2022 - When a surface is getting wet, also the composition of the liquid plays a role in the wetting process. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) found that phase separation within the wetting liquid directly affects the dynamics of spreading. Their ...

Molecules in collective ecstasy

Signal transmission through dyes: Chemical light amplifiers ten times more efficient than before

15-Jul-2021 - When fluorescent dye molecules nestle perfectly together, something completely new is created: an excited state distributed over many molecules. Such collective excitations can be used in a variety of ways – for organic solar panels, in sensors, for ultrafast data transmission or in microscopy, ...

Designer emulsions

Long-held dream of researchers and industry fulfilled

20-Nov-2018 - ETH material researchers are developing a method with which they can coat the droplets with controlled interfacial composition and coverage on demand in an emulsion in order to stabilise them. In doing so they are fulfilling a long-held dream of researchers and industry. Mayonnaise is a prime ...

Particles pull last drops of oil from well water

Nanoscale solution to ‘produced water’ problem

17-Aug-2018 - Oil and water tend to separate, but they mix well enough to form stable oil-in-water emulsions in produced water from oil reservoirs to become a problem. Rice University scientists have developed a nanoparticle-based solution that reliably removes more than 99 percent of the emulsified oil that ...

Understanding rare earth emulsions

Surface polarization in mixed media increases attraction among elements

16-Oct-2017 - Despite their name, rare earth elements actually aren't that rare. Abundant in mines around the world, rare earths are used in many high-tech products, including visual displays, batteries, super conductors, and computer hard drives. But while they aren't necessarily tricky to find, the elements ...

Universal stabilization

Microparticles with a rough, raspberry-like surface stabilise emulsions following a new principle

16-Jun-2017 - Researchers led by Lucio Isa, Professor of Interfaces, Soft Matter and Assembly at ETH Zurich's Department of Materials, have created a new type of silica particle able to stabilise emulsions in a new way. An emulsion is a finely dispersed mixture of two immiscible liquids, constituted by ...

Laboratory inauguration in Russia

18-Jan-2017 - BYK celebrated – together with HOMA, a manufacturer of dispersions and emulsions based in Dzerzhinsk, Russia – the opening of an ultra-modern laboratory for BYK’s application technology in Shchyolkovo, near Moscow. In a space of more than 125 m2, all the necessary conditions are now created for ...

Tunable peptide emulsifiers discovered

22-Feb-2016 - Emulsions, the stabilized mixtures of oil and water are the basis of many food and personal care products such as spreads, creams, and pastes. Each product has different requirements and there is a need for emulsifiers that can be tuned, or tailored but are also biocompatible and ...

BASF commissions one of Europe’s most advanced production plants for form release agents

16-Jul-2015 - Supporting the increasing demand for ecologically sound and user friendly products, BASF commissioned a new production plant for form release agents that is among the most advanced and most efficient in Europe. Opened at the company’s in Staßfurt site in May 2015, the new facility produces ...

LUM GmbH opens own application laboratory in Paris

02-Oct-2014 - The new application lab of LUM GmbH opened in Plaisir, a Western suburb of Paris, on October, 1st 2014. „The opening of the application laboratory is the next logical step in the further development of the French market for LUM products as well as for the optimum customer service in France. It is ...