Loth E. – TechConnect Briefs

Insect Fouling on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Krishnan K., Milionis A., Tetteh F., Loth E., University of Virginia, US

An experimental setup consisting a wind tunnel and insect delivery system that is capable of injecting insects at 100 mph was built to test the effectiveness of superhydrophobic coatings towards insect fouling. Three distinct components [...]

Elastic Superhydrophobic Nanocomposites with Enhanced Mechanical Durability

Milionis A., Languasco J., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

The vast majority of superhydrophobic surfaces are very fragile which is their main limiting factor for commercialization. Improving their mechanical durability has been a major issue during the last years. In this work we demonstrate [...]

Microscopic “Slide-Snap” Receding Contact Line Dynamics on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Yeong Y.H., Milionis A., Bayer I.S., Loth E., University of Virginia, US

Receding angles have been shown to have great significance when designing a superhydrophobic surface for applications involving self-cleaning. Although apparent receding angles under dynamic conditions have been well studied, the microscopic receding contact line dynamics [...]

Mechanically Durable Superhydrophobic Nanocomposites from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)

Milionis A., Yeong Y.H., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

We report on the development of nanocomposites based on a combination of ABS with hydrophobically modified fumed silica (HMFS). By tuning the ratio between the two materials we are again able to obtain static water [...]

Superhydrophobic 3D Printed Surfaces by Dip-Coating

Milionis A., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

Here we demonstrate a technique to fabricate three-dimensional superhydrophobic patterns. First a three-dimensional pattern was designed by 3D printing using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as printing material. A linear printing algorithm is followed for the [...]

Mechanically Durable Superhydrophobic Nanocomposites from Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS)

Milionis A., Yeong Y.H., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

We report on the development of nanocomposites based on a combination of ABS with hydrophobically modified fumed silica (HMFS). By tuning the ratio between the two materials we are again able to obtain static water [...]

Predicting Contact Angles for Regular and Irregular Surfaces

Krishnan K., Loth E., University of Virginia, US

We attempted new models for advancing and receding contact angles for both regular and irregular surfaces. While many models have been suggested for regular surfaces, comparison with experimental data shows the presence of secondary effect. [...]

Effect of superhydrophobic nanocomposite surface roughness on anti-icing performance

Davis A., Yeong Y.H., Steele A., Loth E., Bayer I.S., University of Virginia, US

While past work has shown the ice-phobic potential of a superhydrophobic surface or noted the effect of surface area on ice adhesion to an array of microposts, questions still remain on the effect of a [...]

Durability of a superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating under extended replicated rain impact

Davis A., Yeong Y.H., Steele A., Bayer I., Loth E., DeCombarieu G., University of Virginia, US

The objective of this study was to test the mechanical durability of a polyurethane/organoclay nanocomposite modified with perfluoroalkyl methacrylic copolymer in conditions that replicate extended rain impact. Samples were impacted with 1.4 mm droplets at [...]

An Electrolytic Reaction to Resist Saturation on Conductive Superhydrophobic Nanocomposites

Cheek J., Steele A., Loth E., University of Virginia, US

The following abstract investigates superhydrophobic nanocomposite surfaces that are continuously submerged in water. Unfortunately, the surfaces lose superhydrophobic functionality under constant contact with water. Until recently, there has been little analysis on this performance behavior. [...]