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.
In Associate Professor Jonathan Boreyko's Nature-Inspired Fluids and Interfaces Lab, Ph.D. student Jack Tapocik watched a disk-shaped chunk of ice resting on an engineered metal surface. As the ice melted, the water formed ...
General Physics
Aug 14, 2025
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70
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have upended assumptions about how water behaves when squeezed into atom-scale spaces. By applying spectroscopic tools together with the machine learning simulation ...
Nanophysics
Aug 8, 2025
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142
Large metal surfaces coated with precisely formed nanostructures have so far remained in the realm of fantasy. The obstacle standing in the way of their production seemed fundamental, as it resulted from the presence of crystal ...
Nanomaterials
Aug 7, 2025
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34
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered that the size of catalytic nanoparticles determines how their shape and structure transform during chemical reactions. ...
Nanophysics
Aug 7, 2025
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21
How can a horde of active robots be automatically brought to a standstill? By arresting their dynamics in a self-sustained way. This phenomenon was discovered by physicists at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU) and ...
General Physics
Aug 6, 2025
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71
An interdisciplinary team of McGill researchers has developed an ultra-strong, environmentally friendly medical glue, or bioadhesive, made from marine waste. The discovery has promising applications for wound care, surgeries, ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 31, 2025
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32
Physicists at Osnabrück University have examined individual water molecules on the calcite surface in more detail. Their findings, published in the journal ACS Nano, are relevant for climate and environmental protection.
Nanophysics
Jul 29, 2025
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66
Inspired by a hitchhiking fish that uses a specialized suction organ to latch onto sharks and other marine animals, researchers from MIT and other institutions have designed a mechanical adhesive device that can attach to ...
Biotechnology
Jul 23, 2025
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25
Solar cells and computer chips need silicon layers that are as perfect as possible. Every imperfection in the crystalline structure increases the risk of reduced efficiency or defective switching processes.
Condensed Matter
Jul 22, 2025
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56
After several years of research, the results are in on the difference in turfgrass soil surfactants that are marketed as "penetrants" and "retainers."
Plants & Animals
Jul 17, 2025
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