Michael Kappl
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View article: Stood-up drop to determine receding contact angles
Stood-up drop to determine receding contact angles Open
A robust alternative method to measure receding contact angles is suggested.
View article: Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells
Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells Open
Intracellular structures, such as cytoskeletons, form within a crowded cytoplasm with viscoelastic properties. While self-assembly in crowding is well studied, the effects of coupled viscoelastic environments remain elusive. Here we engine…
View article: Contact line friction of bubbles
Contact line friction of bubbles Open
Contact line friction (CLF) of bubbles is ubiquitous, from bubbles on a beer glass to H2 bubbles sliding over electrodes in electrolysis. However, a fundamental understanding of CLF of bubbles is still missing, mainly due to the challenge …
View article: Metal Nanodot Array via Thin Oil Layer‐Assisted Dropwise Solid‐State Dewetting
Metal Nanodot Array via Thin Oil Layer‐Assisted Dropwise Solid‐State Dewetting Open
Precise control of metal nanodot arrays is crucial for optimizing their plasmonic, catalytic, and photonic properties. Fabrication methods for homogeneous nanodots generally rely on complex processes, such as lithography or layer‐by‐layer …
View article: Friction Measurements with Picoliter Droplets Using Scanning Probe Microscopy
Friction Measurements with Picoliter Droplets Using Scanning Probe Microscopy Open
Topographical and chemical defects on solid surfaces tend to pin three-phase contact lines of moving liquid drops. Our quantitative understanding of the pinning process is, however, still poor. Here we use an atomic force microscope to sli…
View article: Spatial Patterns in Fibrous Materials: A Metrological Framework for Pores and Junctions
Spatial Patterns in Fibrous Materials: A Metrological Framework for Pores and Junctions Open
Several materials widely used in scientific research and industrial applications, including nano-filters and neuromorphic circuits, consist of fiber structures. Despite the fundamental structural similarity, the key feature that should be …
View article: Nanofilament-Coated Membranes with Enhanced Scaling and Biofouling Resistance for Membrane Distillation
Nanofilament-Coated Membranes with Enhanced Scaling and Biofouling Resistance for Membrane Distillation Open
Membrane distillation (MD) for water treatment can be applied in high salinity conditions and for treatment of wastewater. Current commercial membranes are made of fluorinated polymers such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Here, porous m…
View article: Tuning the Morphology and Structure of Supraparticles Composed of Ellipsoids
Tuning the Morphology and Structure of Supraparticles Composed of Ellipsoids Open
Evaporating droplets of colloidal dispersions on superamphiphobic surfaces is a versatile way to fabricate supraparticles with complex shape and internal morphology. Here, we investigated experimentally the formation of supraparticles cons…
View article: Enhancing liquid–vapor phase behavior through multiscale anisotropic wettability gradient in dandelion-inspired nanostructures
Enhancing liquid–vapor phase behavior through multiscale anisotropic wettability gradient in dandelion-inspired nanostructures Open
This research developed an approach to engineering multiscale anisotropic wettability gradients through the design of dandelion-inspired nanostructures, enabling both horizontal and vertical biphilicity.
View article: Drop splitting on hydrophobic wedge-shaped tips after central impact: effect of sharpness and wetting properties
Drop splitting on hydrophobic wedge-shaped tips after central impact: effect of sharpness and wetting properties Open
Does a knife-like wedge-shaped tips always split a centrally impacting water drop? Here, we combine experiments and volume of fluid (VOF) simulations to investigate this process. The answer might surprise you—find out in this manuscript.
View article: Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells
Growing functional artificial cytoskeletons in the viscoelastic confinement of DNA synthetic cells Open
Intracellular structures, like the cytoskeletons, form within a crowded cytoplasm with defined viscoelastic properties. While crowding effects on self-assembly are well studied, the role of viscoelasticity in regulating structure formation…
View article: Droplet evaporation on super liquid-repellent surfaces: A controllable approach for supraparticle fabrication
Droplet evaporation on super liquid-repellent surfaces: A controllable approach for supraparticle fabrication Open
Supraparticles are agglomerates of nano- and/or microparticles with sizes ranging from tens to hundreds of microns, making them more accessible for handling and recovery than the building blocks. Supraparticles not only inherit the propert…
View article: Surface‐Templated Polymer Microparticle Synthesis Based on Droplet Microarrays
Surface‐Templated Polymer Microparticle Synthesis Based on Droplet Microarrays Open
Polymer microparticle synthesis based on the surface‐templated method is a simple and environmentally friendly method to produce various microparticles. Unique particles with different compositions can be fabricated by simply annealing a p…
View article: Quantifying pore spatial uniformity: Application on membranes before and after plasma etching
Quantifying pore spatial uniformity: Application on membranes before and after plasma etching Open
Membranes play a critical role in diverse applications, including filtration and tissue engineering. The importance of membrane performance optimization highlights the necessity of accurately characterizing the pore structure. Traditional …
View article: Bioinspired Capillary Force-Driven Super-Adhesive Filter
Bioinspired Capillary Force-Driven Super-Adhesive Filter Open
Capturing particles with low, nanonewton scale adhesion is an ongoing challenge for conventional air filters1,2. Inspired by the natural filtration capabilities of mucus-coated nasal hairs3-7, we introduce an efficient biomimetic filter th…
View article: Condensation of water on PDMS-coated copper surfaces for fresh water harvesting
Condensation of water on PDMS-coated copper surfaces for fresh water harvesting Open
With an increased need to solve fresh water scarcity for humanity in many places around the world, dew water harvesting is one promising approach to improve the situation. While condensation from humid air has been a research topic for man…
View article: Effects of Gas Layer Thickness on Capillary Interactions at Superhydrophobic Surfaces
Effects of Gas Layer Thickness on Capillary Interactions at Superhydrophobic Surfaces Open
Strongly attractive forces act between superhydrophobic surfaces across water due to the formation of a bridging gas capillary. Upon separation, the attraction can range up to tens of micrometers as the gas capillary grows, while gas molec…
View article: Chemically robust superhydrophobic surfaces with a self‐replenishing nanoscale liquid coating
Chemically robust superhydrophobic surfaces with a self‐replenishing nanoscale liquid coating Open
Due to poor chemical robustness, superhydrophobic surfaces become susceptible to failure, especially in a highly oxidative environment. To ensure the long‐term efficacy of these surfaces, a more stable and environmentally friendly coating …
View article: Durable, Ultrathin, and Antifouling Polymer Brush Coating for Efficient Condensation Heat Transfer
Durable, Ultrathin, and Antifouling Polymer Brush Coating for Efficient Condensation Heat Transfer Open
Heat exchangers are made of metals because of their high heat conductivity and mechanical stability. Metal surfaces are inherently hydrophilic, leading to inefficient filmwise condensation. It is still a challenge to coat these metal surfa…
View article: Durable, ultrathin, and antifouling polymer brush coating for efficient condensation heat transfer
Durable, ultrathin, and antifouling polymer brush coating for efficient condensation heat transfer Open
Heat exchangers are made of metals because of their high heat conductivity and mechanical stability. Metal surfaces are inherently hydrophilic, leading to inefficient filmwise condensation. It is still a challenge to coat these metal surfa…
View article: Experimental Study of Condensation of Water on Polydimethylsiloxane-Coated Copper Surfaces
Experimental Study of Condensation of Water on Polydimethylsiloxane-Coated Copper Surfaces Open
Modification of surfaces to enable dropwise condensation is a promising approach for achieving high condensation rates. In this work, we present an experimental study on condensation of water on copper surfaces coated with an ultrathin, 5 …
View article: Nanofilament-Coated Superhydrophobic Membranes Show Enhanced Flux and Fouling Resistance in Membrane Distillation
Nanofilament-Coated Superhydrophobic Membranes Show Enhanced Flux and Fouling Resistance in Membrane Distillation Open
Membrane distillation (MD) is an important technique for brine desalination and wastewater treatment that may utilize waste or solar heat. To increase the distillation rate and minimize membrane wetting and fouling, we deposit a layer of p…
View article: A super liquid-repellent hierarchical porous membrane for enhanced membrane distillation
A super liquid-repellent hierarchical porous membrane for enhanced membrane distillation Open
Membrane distillation (MD) is an emerging desalination technology that exploits phase change to separate water vapor from saline based on low-grade energy. As MD membranes come into contact with saline for days or weeks during desalination…
View article: Hierarchically Branched Siloxane Brushes for Efficient Harvesting of Atmospheric Water (Small 37/2023)
Hierarchically Branched Siloxane Brushes for Efficient Harvesting of Atmospheric Water (Small 37/2023) Open
Branched Siloxane Brushes In article number 2301561, King Lun Yeung and co-workers develop a flexible and hierarchically branched siloxane brushes by repeated grafting of siloxane on TiO2 nanorods. The flexible siloxane facilitates water n…
View article: Photocatalytically reactive surfaces for simultaneous water harvesting and treatment
Photocatalytically reactive surfaces for simultaneous water harvesting and treatment Open
Atmospheric water harvesting provides decentralized and sustainable supplies of fresh water in areas away from natural water resources. However, an important challenge is that water sources such as fog are subject to contamination from air…
View article: Method to Measure Surface Tension of Microdroplets Using Standard AFM Cantilever Tips
Method to Measure Surface Tension of Microdroplets Using Standard AFM Cantilever Tips Open
Surface tension is a physical property that is central to our understanding of wetting phenomena. One could easily measure liquid surface tension using commercially available tensiometers (e.g., Wilhelmy plate method) or by optical imaging…
View article: When crystals flow
When crystals flow Open
Semicrystalline polymers are solids that are supposed to flow only above their melting temperature. By using confinement within nanoscopic cylindrical pores, we show that a semicrystalline polymer can flow at temperatures below the melting…