Stability, deformation and rupture of Janus oligomer enabled self-emulsifying water-in-oil microemulsion droplet

Physical Chemistry and Chemiscal Physics, DOI: 10.1039/D0CP03092A

We have investigated the spontaneous emulsification process from a water, oil and surfactant mixture to form a single microemulsion droplet. By applying counter forces on the water core and the surfactant shell, the mechanical stability of microemulsion droplets was probed at different ambient temperatures. A strengthening response and a softening regime before and after a temperature-dependent peak force were identified followed by final rupture. The findings contribute to establishing an atomistic view on the previous studies on microemulsion fluids, and provide a general guide to design a stable microemulsion system, such as oil recovery and production, drug delivery, materials fabrication, chemical sensors, wastewater treatment, etc.

Polysiloxane as icephobic materials – The past, present and the future

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2021, 405: 127088

Perspectives of polysiloxane low-ice adhesion materials research.

Insight into the pressure-induced displacement mechanism for selecting efficient nanofluids in various capillaries

Environmental Science: Nano, 2020, 7: 2785-2794

Fluids flow in porous media is ubiquitous and has important application in numerous fields, such as groundwater remediation, oil recovery, water purification, etc. Taken the oil recovery as an example, increasing the pumping pressure of injecting fluid can improve the oil recovery. However, as flooding pressure reaches a specific high value, considerable amount of oil would be trapped in the reservoir due to “fingering” phenomenon. How to overcome the “fingering” to increase the production of the residual oil is a hot topic in the research of petroleum engineering. Here we propose two distinct displacement mechanisms. Specifically, reducing the interfacial tension of fluids is beneficial to improve the displacement efficiency in hydrophobic capillary, while increasing viscosity of fluids favours for hydrophilic capillary. Based on the proposed mechanisms, we design three types of nanofluids to improve the displacement efficiency for different capillaries.

New article by Dr. Tong Li

Self-Deicing Electrolyte Hydrogel Surfaces with Pa-level Ice Adhesion and Durable Antifreezing/Antifrost Performance

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020, 12, 35572-35578

We have synthesized the ionic gel (IG) surfaces for everlasting anti-freezing and zero ice adhesion to ice with tuneable anti-icing temperature (down to -48.4 degree C). Moreover, we introduce the concept “deicing time” to evaluate the ice self-removal from the IG surface within 10-100 s. These excellent performances are due that the ions inside the IG diffuse to the interface between IG and water/ice to destroy ice crystals, as demonstrated by both the molecular dynamics simulations and experimental results. In summary, we first provide a possible approach to prevent ice formation and accretion in the long-term.

A paper published in "Journal of Materials Science & Technology"

New article by PhD candidate Yuequn Fu

The effects of morphology and temperature on the tensile characteristics of carbon nitride nanothreads

Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 12462-12475

We have performed comprehensive investigation on tensile mechanical characteristics of seven experimental synthesized CNNTs by using first-principle based ReaxFF molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. All the CNNTs exhibit unique tensile mechanical properties that change with molecular morphology, atomic arrangement and the distribution of nitrogen in the skeleton. CNNTs with more effective loading covalent bonds at cross-sections are more mechanically robust. The study provides physical insights into the tensile characteristics of CNNTs for the design and application of CNNT-based nanostructures as multifunctional materials.

Anti-icing Ionogel Surfaces: Inhibiting Ice Nucleation, Growth, and Adhesion

ACS Materials Letters, 2020, 2: 616-623

We have fabricated an ionogel surface that can not only inhibit the ice nucleation but also the subsequent step, the ice growth. Due to the inhibited ice growth, the ionogel surface enables an unconventional inward ice growth in water droplets from the droplet-air interface, resulting in a spherical cap ice rather than a normal pointy cap ice at cold environment. Both experiments and molecular dynamic simulations confirm that the prepared ionogel surface can efficiently generate an interfacial liquid layer due to the inward ice growth and presence of ionic liquid. Such non-frozen interfacial liquid layer is desired for lowering ice adhesion and preventing ice/frost formation. Consequently, the ionogel surface exhibits unprecedented anti-frost abilities under humid environment (-20 ºC, 60% RH). This is the first surface that can inhibit both ice nucleation and growth!

New article by PhD candidate Susanne Sandell

Enhancement of Thermal Boundary Conductance of Metal–Polymer System

Nanomaterials, 2020, 10, 670

New article by PhD candidate Feng Wang

Enabling phase transition of infused lubricant in porous structure for exceptional oil/water separation

Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2020, 290, 122176

NML developed an ultrafast self-healing, highly transparent mechanically durable icephobic coating.

Ultrafast self-healing and highly transparent coating with mechanically durable icephobicity

Applied Materials Today, 2020, 19, 100542