Category archives: Chemistry

Carnivorous plants inspire novel liquid repellent surfaces

Carnivorous plants inspire novel liquid repellent surfaces

ChemistryMaterialsPhysics

By Mireia Altimira

Natural non-wetting structures, particularly lotus leaves (Fig. 1a), have inspired the development of synthetic liquid-repellent surfaces. These surfaces rely on the formation of a stable air–liquid interface, but present limited repellency to oils with high contact angle hysteresis, failure under pressure and inability to self-heal. The paper by Wong et al. presents a novel approach […]

Laser spectrochemistry beyond Earth’s boundaries: Curiosity’s Chemcam

Laser spectrochemistry beyond Earth’s boundaries: Curiosity’s Chemcam

ChemistryPhysicsRobotics

By Paola Vega

It is well known that an accurate and energetic laser shot can melt, ionize and excite the material in which the light is focused, creating very bright plasmas after the interaction. Valuable information can be obtained from the light emitted by the plasma, such as the elemental composition of the material itself or the environment […]