VICI grant for Frieder MugeleFrieder Mugele received a VICI grant from NWO/STW. Together with his team he will develop “Electrically Switchable Superhydrophobic Surfaces” in the upcoming five years.

Cell Spread: electrowetting for cancer researchThe PCF group starts up a new collaboration with the MCBP group of Leon Terstappen to improve the early detection and to study the properties of circulating tumor cells.

PCF contributes to new FOM program on NanotribologyA new collaborative FOM program on Fundamental Aspects of Friction has recently been approved by FOM. A consortium of eight research groups will address the question on how to bridge the gap from idealized individual dry nanoscale tribological contacts to the true practical situation of multiple asperity contacts with elastic and plastic behavior in the presence of lubricants. The PCF group will contribute to this program with a study on Nanolubrication.

Droplet impact on superhydrophobic substratesUsing electrowetting to control the bouncing/ sticky droplet transition on superhydrophobic substrates

Slow diffusion in spatial confinementWhen a colloidal particle approaches a wall, its hydrodynamic interaction with the wall causes the particle to slow down. This effect was studied in the PCF group and is now published.

Gekko adhesie bestudeerdSissi de Beer, Aram Klaassen en Bart Stel hebben het adhesiemechanisme van een gekko bestudeerd en dit werk zal in het juli nummer van het Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Natuurkunde worden gepubliceerd.

Bubble bursting in NatureOn June 10, the article “Daughter bubble cascades produced by folding of ruptured thin films” appeared in Nature. A PhD student within the PCF group, Riëlle de Ruiter, contributed to this research during her MSc internship in the group of Howard Stone at Harvard University.

NWO Project granted: Suspensions in confined flowNWO-CW, the chemistry section of the Dutch Science Foundation, granted 28 out of 129 proposals this year within its ECHO program. One of the successful ones was the proposal entitled “Influence of wall roughness and particle adhesion on confined flows”.

Mirco- and Nanofluidics for Enhanced Oil RecoveryThe PCF group starts a major collaborative research project on Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) together with energy corporation BP. During 5 years, BP will sponsor research at PCF with a total amount of funding of € 4.25 million.