For one-component fluids, we examine the predrying phase transition between a thin and thick low-density layer in liquid on a wall repelling the fluid. This is the case of a hydrophobic wall for water. A predrying line starts from the coexistence curve and ends at a surface critical point in the phase diagram. We calculate this line numerically using the van der Waals model and analytically usi...

Electrically conducting polymers (ECPs) are one of the most popular types of materials to interface ion-selective membranes (ISMs) with electron-conducting substrates to construct solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (SCISEs). For optimal ion-to-electron transduction and potential stability, the p-doped ECPs with low oxidation potentials such as PPy need to be generally in their conducting fo...

Coupled exfoliation and fracture induced formation of hydrophobic monolayered nanoflakes in a nonpolar organic medium. The hydrophobic monolayered nanoflakes 5-20 nm in lateral size consisted of a tungstate layer with surface modification by stearylammonium ions (C18H37NH3)0.397 H0.603Cs3W11O35·xH2O (x < 0.625).

We establish and quantify correlations among the molecular structures, interaction forces, and physical processes associated with light-responsive self-assembled surfactant monolayers or bilayers at interfaces. Using the surface forces apparatus (SFA), the interaction forces between adsorbed monolayers and bilayers of an azobenzene-functionalized surfactant can be drastically and controllably a...

We introduce a novel and versatile approach for preparing hollow multilayer capsules containing functional hydrophobic components. Protonated polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) and anionic polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) block copolymer micelles (BCM) were used as building blocks for the layer-by-layer assembly of BCM multilayer films onto polystyrene (PS) collo...

The surface of three strains of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAggEC) and three strains of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) were examined using the freeze-substitution technique of electron microscopy and as a result an electron dense surface layer was found only on EAggEC strains but not on EPEC strains. The analysis of the outer membrane proteins by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis rev...

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on the water/Pt interface. When the surface is neutral, water is found to form a contact layer directing its O atom toward the surface, i.e., O-down configuration. When the surface is negatively biased, the contact layer shows a significant structural change. The O-down configuration is converted mostly to the H-down configuration. As...

Hydrophobic interactions and local dewetting of hydrophobic cavities have been identified as a key mechanism for ionic gating in biological voltage-gated channels in a cell membrane. Hydrophobic interactions are responsible for rectification of the channels, i.e. the ability to transport ions more efficiently in one direction compared to the other. We designed single polymer nanopores with a hy...