October 1, 2006
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmBubble Adhesion
By J R Minkel
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
When two smooth, slick surfaces are submerged in water and brought within 100 nanometers of each other, something odd happens: they adhere, even though they are too far apart for electrostatic forces to bridge them. C. Jeffrey Brinker of Sandia National Laboratories and his colleagues repeated this experiment with rougher silica surfaces that repel water more than smooth ones do. Using a special kind of atomic force microscope to control the spacing of the surfaces, they found that this strange attraction kicked in at an even longer distance of up to two microns and that it was accompanied by the formation of a vapor bubble in between. The surfaces' antagonism toward liquid water creates a partial vacuum that draws them together, the group concludes in the August 3 Nature.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
