|
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 Super Plastic Both Attracts and Repels WaterContinued from page 1 By Prachi Patel-Predd
The coating could also find uses in biomedical applications to make microfluidic chips. Typically, microfluidic devices contain enclosed micrometer-wide channels etched into silicon, glass, or plastic plates. Then pressure or electric fields drive tiny volumes of fluids, typically nanoliters, along these channels for diagnostic tests and genetics research. For instance, to test for the presence of a certain protein in blood you could take blood in one channel and direct it to another channel containing a chemical reagent that identifies the protein. Compared with conventional microfluidics, a microfluidic chip based on the new surface would have the advantage of easier mixing, Rubner says. Right now, the chips need pumps and valves that move the liquid around to induce mixing. "In our case you can mix the liquids by just controlling the amount of liquid you put on the surface," he says. With a pipette, you could add precise amounts of fluid into two hydrophilic grooves placed close to each other. As you add more fluid, the droplets bulge out at the edge of the grooves because of the surrounding hydrophobic area. Eventually, the bulging surfaces touch and mix. Being able to confine liquids to a small region could provide densely packed reaction sites with more control over the reaction, he says, since adjacent drops won't mix unless they are forced to. While the exact uses of this new material are still uncertain, it opens up many possibilities, says Kenneth Wynne, a chemical engineering professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. "Patterning ultra-hydrophilic patches on a ultra-hydrophobic surface in this way is new and useful," he says. |
Nano Sponge For Oil Spills
06/02/2008


Comments
Guest (Ronald H Levine) on 05/30/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (andrea raise) on 06/21/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Chuck the Lucky) on 06/01/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
I remember one of these companies saying that the technology is feasible in all but the absolutely driest climates and that most of the world's people, even the poorest, live in areas where it is may be hot and have little precipitation but the air is not completely dessicated. Many are selling solar panels and provide units in a range of sizes from personal/family to small village size. If this new strategy can be added on to this new but existing industry of atmospheric water generators it could be a really interesting development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Air_Extraction_Devices
Guest (bogo) on 06/02/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Guest (Austin B. Carter, Jr) on 06/04/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
coated on opposite face with an
electrical conductor that would
then allow electrostatic cooling
to depress the samples temperature
to the ambient DEW point resulting in the nucleation, condensation and
harvesting of water from air. Note
that electrostatic cooling can be
powered by a solar panel.
pablo8 on 08/21/2006 at 1:11 PM
1
pablo
awetila on 09/15/2006 at 4:56 PM
1
currently am a student of mechanical engineering in my school. I am working on a particular topic, please i need your assistance in helping me to write this.it is a competition i am putting in for.Thanks as i wait for your reply.
joeatxdobs on 09/26/2006 at 12:43 PM
1
Guest (Austin B. Carter,Jr.) on 07/03/2006 at 12:00 AM
1
Nano super plastic would allow
water collection from fog and be
a small, mobile, squeezable supply
of water for mariners adrift on a
life raft in a fog bank.
rawson on 11/07/2006 at 9:49 AM
1
I represent a group of large off shore investors. I would like to request a sample,to check usage,capacity etc.If you have any research that is available that would be great also.
please send reply to rawson_watson@hotmail.com
address Mr R.Watson
237 marlborough road
Gillingham
Kent ME7 5HS
England
klm220 on 05/21/2007 at 5:45 PM
1
Congratulations on your "memorable crime"!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/2976574.stm
briesmith on 05/22/2007 at 7:00 AM
1
This man is obviously stupid beyond belief. It would be interesting to find out what, if anything, he could make of this new material.
Failing any way forward with technology can I suggest a name change?
Michaelangelica on 01/08/2007 at 2:39 PM
2
semichnich on 11/03/2007 at 10:39 PM
1