Press release -
The shape of a drop can be controlled!
A study by Politecnico di Milano in Physical Review Letters
The ability to control the shape of a drop has been a revolutionary discovery and will soon allow us to manufacture liquid technology devices, by encapsulating one liquid in another, for applications such as the controlled release of drugs, emulsification processes and, for instance, the clean-up of liquid pollutant spills, such as oil spills.
This is all thanks to the work of a team of scientists from Politecnico di Milano, Aalto University in Helsinki and the University of Oxford, whose revolutionary discovery has recently been published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters.
The study was conducted on the shape control of drops consisting of a mixture of water and a protein (hydrophobin), engineered and studied during the evaporation process on a solid surface under different gravity conditions. 'While a drop of pure fluid, eg of water alone, always retains its initial shape during evaporation, these drops made of a water-hydrophobin mixture, on the other hand, show surprising changes in shape during evaporation,' states Pierangelo Metrangolo from the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering 'Giulio Natta' at Politecnico di Milano.
'In fact, the hydrophobininitially dissolved in water” continues Pasquale Ciarletta from the Department of Mathematics at Politecnico di Milano, 'reaches the drop's free surface during evaporation and begins to self-assemble to create a thin film that encapsulates the drop and allows its shape to be controlled thanks to a particular combination of certain gravity conditions and the chemical and mechanical properties of the solute that is unveiled and described by a mathematical model'.
This research demonstrates the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to drive innovation: the interaction between mathematics and chemistry has enabled the understanding of a new physical phenomenon and its transfer to technology to engineer innovative materials that will revolutionise various industrial applications.
The collaborative work of the authors of the study, Pasquale Ciarletta, Pierangelo Metrangolo and Davide Riccobelli, was funded by Regione Lombardia's NewMed project to create innovative methods and materials for precision and personalised medicine.
'I am proud that a Regione Lombardia project has allowed Politecnico di Milano to carry out these studies, which have led to this revolutionary discovery' — says the Regional Councillor for Universities, Research and Innovation, Alessandro Fermi — 'Once again, Lombardy's universities have demonstrated that they are at the forefront of research, which is a matter of great satisfaction. I would like to meet the team of scientists at Politecnico to congratulate them personally”.
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
