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Interfacial phenomena are the occurrences that take place when two different phases come into contact (e.g. solid-gas, solid-liquid, liquid-gas). Often the consequences of these phenomena are undesirable or even detrimental, and fixing the issue imparts significant costs across many sectors. The way in which water, the most ubiquitous liquid, interacts with a solid surface for example, presents extensive issues from condensation and icing which deteriorate the efficiency of heat exchange systems and the safety of aircraft, to corrosion and staining. Not only does liquid interaction with solid surfaces have detrimental effects, but contact with living organisms results in numerous problems such as biofilm formation (promotes the spread of microbes) and biofouling (decreases the efficiency of marine vessels). Just as with physical matter, light can interact with surfaces to cause unwanted reflections resulting in reduced efficiency of solar cells for example.
It is therefore of paramount importance that these phenomena are controlled, and one way in which this can be achieved is through micro- and nano-structuring of the surface. In Pi-lab we fabricate precisely designed structures with dimensions ranging from sub-100 nm to >1 mm 听to tackle these issues. Our key projects include wettability (superhydrophobicity, slippery surfaces, anti-condensation), anti-microbial surfaces and targeting light interaction (reflectance, transmittance, plasmonics), however these are often overlapping in nature.
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Nanocones fabricated in glass with a pitch of 100nm displaying superhydrophobic behaviour .
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Nanocones fabricated in silicon with a pitch of 350nm displaying superhydrophobic behaviour.
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Comparison between the antifogging ability of two samples (the sample on the left shows good antifogging ability due to the lack of large droplet formation, whereas the sample on the right shows poor ability.)
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Antibacterial properties of glass nanostructures. SEM images of staphylococcus aureus cells attached and killed by nanostructures.
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Broadband antireflective properties of moth-eye structures in glass.
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Relevant publications
- M. Michalska, S. K. Laney, T. Li, M. Portnoi, N. Mordan, E. Allan, M. K. Tiwari, I. P. Parkin, and I. Papakonstantinou, "Bioinspired Multifunctional Glass Surfaces through Regenerative Secondary Mask Lithography," Adv. Mater. (2021).
- P. Lecointre, S. Laney, M. Michalska, T. Li, A. Tanguy, I. Papakonstantinou, and D. Qu茅r茅, "Unique and universal dew-repellency of nanocones," Nat. Commun. 12, 4鈥�12 (2021).
- S. K. Laney, M. Michalska, T. Li, F. V. Ramirez, M. Portnoi, J. Oh, I. G. Thayne, I. P. Parkin, M. K. Tiwari, and I. Papakonstantinou, "Delayed Lubricant Depletion of Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces Using Precision Nanostructures," Langmuir 37, 10071鈥�10078 (2021).
- M. Michalska, S. K. Laney, T. Li, M. K. Tiwari, I. P. Parkin, and I. Papakonstantinou, "A route to engineered high aspect-ratio silicon nanostructures through regenerative secondary mask lithography," Nanoscale 14, 1847鈥�1854 (2021).
- S. K. Laney, T. Li, M. Michalska, F. Ramirez, M. Portnoi, J. Oh, M. K. Tiwari, I. G. Thayne, I. P. Parkin, and I. Papakonstantinou, "Spacer-Defined Intrinsic Multiple Patterning," ACS Nano 14, 12091鈥�12100 (2020).