Filter may be a match for fracking water

A new filter produced by Rice University scientists has proven able to remove more than 90 percent of hydrocarbons, bacteria and particulates from contaminated water produced by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations ...

Gas gives laser-induced graphene super properties

Rice University scientists who invented laser-induced graphene (LIG) for applications like supercapacitors have now figured out a way to make the spongy graphene either superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic.

Added bacterial film makes new mortar resistant to water uptake

Moisture can destroy mortar over time - for example when cracks form as a result of frost. A team of scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has found an unusual way to protect mortar from moisture: When the ...

Flow phenomena on solid surfaces

Physicists from Saarland University and the ESPCI in Paris have shown how liquids on solid surfaces can be made to slide over the surface a bit like a bobsleigh on ice. The key is to apply a coating at the boundary between ...

Research clarifies the physics of water repelling surfaces

Researchers have gained valuable insights into the behaviour of water on strongly hydrophobic (water-repelling) surfaces. Understanding this behaviour should help scientists develop new types of surfaces with applications ...

Superhydrophobic glass coating offers clear benefits

A moth's eye and lotus leaf were the inspirations for an antireflective water-repelling, or superhydrophobic, glass coating that holds significant potential for solar panels, lenses, detectors, windows, weapons systems and ...

When liquids behave like solids

(Phys.org) —When a rubber ball and a droplet of water are compressed onto a solid surface, they behave very differently. For the ball, the compression process is reversible, so the ball retains its original form when decompressed. ...

Researchers develop artificial surfaces insects cannot stick to

Beetles, cockroaches, and ants will have a harder time walking on facades or air conditioners in the future - thanks to the bio-inspired, anti-adhesive surfaces Prof. Dr. Thomas Speck, Dr. Bettina Prüm, and Dr. Holger Bohn ...

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