BACKGROUND Wettability is an important property of solid materials which can be controlled by surface energy. Dynamic control over the surface wettability is of great importance for biosensing applications. Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a biocompatible material suitable for biosensors and microfluidic devices. Nanowires of ZnO tend to show a hydrophobic nature which decelerates the adhesion or adsorption...

low water-wettability and oxidation resistance of graphite have limited its application in carbon containing refractory castables. the aims of this study were improvement of water-wettability and the oxidation resistance of natural flaky graphite by applying an oxide coating on its surface. to develop the coating, magnesium aluminate spinel sol was formulated via a citrate-nitrate route and gra...

Initial processing of Athabasca oil sands obtained from the water-based extraction process yields stable water-in-bitumen emulsions.When the bitumen is diluted with naphtha to reduce its viscosity and density, partial separation can be obtained with a suitable demulsifier. However, a “rag layer” forms between the clean oil and free water layers. The partially oil-wet kaolinite in clay solids ca...

Constitutive functions that govern macroscale capillary pressure and relative permeability are central in constraining both storage efficiency sealing properties of CO$_2$ systems. for porous systems part determined by wettability, which is a pore-scale phenomenon influences displacement. While wettability saline aquifers caprocks assumed to remain water-wet when injected, there recent evidence...

The biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis W16 and evaluation of biosurfactant based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using core-flood under reservoir conditions were investigated. Previously reported nine different production media were screened for biosurfactant production, and two were further optimized with different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, starch, cane molasses, or date mo...

Within the DESYGN-IT research project, funded by the European Commission, carbon nanotubes (CNT) were investigated in the form of powder, vertically grown on a Si substrate and as CNT sheets or mats, mostly referred as to "bucky paper". Due to their hydrophobic and inert nature, functionalization or alteration of nanotubes can be necessary to optimize them for desired applications. The low pres...

Femtosecond laser microfabrication is emerging as a hot tool for controlling the wettability of solid surfaces. This paper introduces four typical aspects of femtosecond laser induced special wettability: superhydrophobicity, underwater superoleophobicity, anisotropic wettability, and smart wettability. The static properties are characterized by the contact angle measurement, while the dynamic ...