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.
Every chemical reaction faces a barrier: For substances to react with one another, it is first necessary to supply energy. In many cases, this energy barrier is low—such as when striking a match. For many key reactions in ...
Nanomaterials
Mar 4, 2026
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37
For the first time, researchers in France and Israel have observed how an emulsified liquid droplet can transform from a hexagon into a six-pointed star shape in response to rising temperature. Publishing their results in ...
Chinese researchers have developed a photocatalytic membrane reactor that dramatically improves the synthesis of imines—a class of compounds essential to the production of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and advanced synthetic ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 2, 2026
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13
Researchers at Arizona State University have uncovered a key scientific principle that governs how what's coated on the surfaces of engineered nanoparticles may ultimately control how they work in our bodies. In a new study ...
Bio & Medicine
Mar 2, 2026
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17
Cyanobacteria are among the most significant life forms in the history of our planet. As one of the first organisms to produce oxygen through photosynthesis, they shaped early Earth and created the atmosphere in which complex ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 27, 2026
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29
Future devices will continue to probe the frontier of the very small, and at scales where functionality depends on mere atoms, even the tiniest flaw matters. Researchers at Rice University have shown that hard-to-spot defects ...
Nanophysics
Feb 26, 2026
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30
Water droplets have a unique ability: They can leap from a surface on their own. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as when a surface repels water or when heat is involved, such as a water or oil droplet skittering ...
General Physics
Feb 26, 2026
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31
Basketball shoes on a gym floor, bicycle brakes in need of a tune-up, or the squeal of tires are everyday examples of squeaking sounds. Such sounds have long been attributed to stick-slip friction, or a cycle of intermittent ...
General Physics
Feb 25, 2026
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67
Using atomic-scale defects in diamond, researchers in China have gained unprecedented insights into the complex chemical processes that unfold at the interfaces between solid surfaces and their surroundings. Published in ...
At Rice University, a research lab's signature keepsake has helped perfect a method for growing patterned diamond surfaces that could help decrease operating temperatures in electronics by 23 degrees Celsius. The paper is ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 23, 2026
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