Surface and interfacial phenomena as a research area encompass the study of physical, chemical, and physicochemical processes occurring at phase boundaries, including solid–liquid, solid–gas, liquid–gas, and liquid–liquid interfaces. This field investigates adsorption, wetting, adhesion, capillarity, surface tension, interfacial rheology, and related equilibrium and non-equilibrium behaviors. It integrates thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, spectroscopy, microscopy, and simulation to elucidate structure–property relationships at interfaces. Research in this area underpins advances in catalysis, colloid and dispersion stability, electrochemistry, nanomaterials, biomembranes, microfluidics, and advanced coatings, with emphasis on how interfacial structure, composition, and energetics govern macroscopic material performance and functionality.
Bubbles are round, and we know surface tension does that. But squeeze that gas-liquid boundary into a space only a few tens of nanometers wide—could other forces be at work?
Nanophysics
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Cells travel through the body both individually and in collective groups during development, wound healing and diseases such as cancer. New research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 17, 2026
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45
Respiratory infectious diseases and air pollution remain persistent global health challenges. Yet the tools used to monitor airborne threats are often expensive, power-hungry and difficult to deploy outside laboratories.
Environment
Aug 14, 2026
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An international research team including Alexander Korsunsky from the Skoltech Engineering Center has, for the first time, directly measured mechanical stresses at the contact between a diamond indenter and a complex nanostructured ...
Nanophysics
Aug 13, 2026
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7
The use of nanoparticles in drug delivery offers key advantages: they can enable targeted drug delivery, protect active ingredients from premature degradation, extend their duration of action in the body and reduce side effects. ...
Bio & Medicine
Aug 12, 2026
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36
By rapidly twisting a microscopically small tip back and forth, researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have unlocked a new way to detect subtle changes on the surface of a material flexing in response to infrared ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 7, 2026
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42
Magnetic storage technologies, which store information in the direction of magnetization, play an essential role in modern data storage. Hard disk drives (HDDs) are widely used for long-term storage, while nonvolatile magnetic ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 7, 2026
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10
Super-thin superconducting materials, which are only one or a few atoms thick, have unique properties scientists can leverage to produce more compact, scalable, and efficient quantum devices. But these fragile materials degrade ...
Superconductivity
Aug 5, 2026
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47
Fungal diseases that affect grain crops can be devastating to global agriculture and food security. Fungicides are the most common preventive measure, but as fungal diseases become more prevalent, the pathogens become increasingly ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Aug 4, 2026
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4
PFAS, otherwise known as forever chemicals, have become commonplace in numerous everyday and industrial products. At the same time, they are some of the most problematic pollutants of our times: They are extremely durable, ...
Nanomaterials
Jul 31, 2026
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