5 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
- ItemHydrophilic non-precious metal nitrogen-doped carbon electrocatalysts for enhanced efficiency in oxygen reduction reaction(Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Hao, Guang-Ping; Sahraie, Nastaran Ranjbar; Zhang, Qiang; Krause, Simon; Oschatz, Martin; Bachmatiuk, Alicja; Strasser, Peter; Kaskel, StefanExploring the role of surface hydrophilicity of non-precious metal N-doped carbon electrocatalysts in electrocatalysis is challenging. Herein we discover an ultra-hydrophilic non-precious carbon electrocatalyst, showing enhanced catalysis efficiency on both gravimetric and areal basis for oxygen reduction reaction due to a high dispersion of active centres.
- ItemUniversal emulsion stabilization from the arrested adsorption of rough particles at liquid-liquid interfaces([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2017) Zanini, Michele; Marschelke, Claudia; Anachkov, Svetoslav E.; Marini, Emanuele; Synytska, Alla; Isa, LucioSurface heterogeneities, including roughness, significantly affect the adsorption, motion and interactions of particles at fluid interfaces. However, a systematic experimental study, linking surface roughness to particle wettability at a microscopic level, is currently missing. Here we synthesize a library of all-silica microparticles with uniform surface chemistry, but tuneable surface roughness and study their spontaneous adsorption at oil-water interfaces. We demonstrate that surface roughness strongly pins the particles' contact lines and arrests their adsorption in long-lived metastable positions, and we directly measure the roughness-induced interface deformations around isolated particles. Pinning imparts tremendous contact angle hysteresis, which can practically invert the particle wettability for sufficient roughness, irrespective of their chemical nature. As a unique consequence, the same rough particles stabilize both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions depending on the phase they are initially dispersed in. These results both shed light on fundamental phenomena concerning particle adsorption at fluid interfaces and indicate future design rules for particle-based emulsifiers.
- ItemPreparation and Application of ZIF-8 Thin Layers(Basel : MDPI, 2021) Schernikau, Martin; Sablowski, Jakob; Gonzalez Martinez, Ignacio Guillermo; Unz, Simon; Kaskel, Stefan; Mikhailova, DariaHerein we compare various preparation methods for thin ZIF-8 layers on a Cu substrate for application as a host material for omniphobic lubricant-infused surfaces. Such omniphobic surfaces can be used in thermal engineering applications, for example to achieve dropwise condensation or anti-fouling and anti-icing surface properties. For these applications, a thin, conformal, homogeneous, mechanically and chemically stable coating is essential. In this study, thin ZIF-8 layers were deposited on a Cu substrate by different routes, such as (i) electrochemical anodic deposition on a Zn-covered Cu substrate, (ii) doctor blade technique for preparation of a composite layer containing PVDF binder and ZIF-8, as well as (iii) doctor blade technique for preparation of a two-layer composite on the Cu substrate containing a PVDF-film and a ZIF-8 layer. The morphology and topography of the coatings were compared by using profilometry, XRD, SEM and TEM techniques. After infusion with a perfluorinated oil, the wettability of the surfaces was assessed by contact angle measurements, and advantages of each preparation method were discussed.
- ItemThe equilibria of vapour-liquid systems revisited(Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2007) Dreyer, Wolfgang; Kraus, ChristianeWe study equilibrium conditions of liquid-vapour phase transitions for a single substance at constant temperature. The phase transitions are modelled by a classical sharp interface model with boundary contact energy. We revisit this old problem mainly for the following reasons. Equilibria in a two-phase system can be established either under fixed external pressure or under fixed total volume. These two different settings lead to distinct equilibria, a fact that is usually ignored in the literature. In nature and in most technical processes, the approach of a two-phase system to equilibrium runs at constant pressure, whereas mathematicians prefer to study processes in constant domains, i.e. at constant volume. Furthermore, in the literature the sharp interface of the liquid and the vapour phase is usually described by a surface with high symmetry like a plane interface or a radially symmetric interface which has the shape of the boundary of a ball. In this paper we establish equilibrium conditions for pressure control as well as for volume control with arbitrary shapes of the interface. The results are derived by methods of differential geometry. Further, the common features and differences of pressure and volume control are worked out for some simple cases.
- ItemAsymptotic expansions of the contact angle in nonlocal capillarity problems(Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Dipierro, Serena; Maggi, Francesco; Valdinoci, EnricoWe consider a family of nonlocal capillarity models, where surface tension is modeled by exploiting a family of fractional interaction kernels The fractional Young's law (contact angle condition) predicted by these models coincides, in the limit, with the classical Young's law determined by the Gauss free energy. Here we refine this asymptotics by showing that, for s close to 1, the fractional contact angle is always smaller than its classical counterpart when the relative adhesion coefficient is negative, and larger if it is positive. In addition, we address the asymptotics of the fractional Young's law in the limit case s close to 0 of interaction kernels with heavy tails. Interestingly, forsmall s, the dependence of the contact angle from the relative adhesion coefficient becomes linear.