Oxford Theoretical Physics

Condensed Matter Theory: Soft and Biological Matter

Julia Yeomans

Lecture Courses:

• 1st Year Calculus Lectures
• CP3: Revision Lectures
• 2nd Year Electromagnetism Lectures

Research:

• Current Research
• Recent Publications

Vacancies:

• Graduate Study
• Post-doctoral Positions

Group Members:

• Rodrigo Ledesma Aguilar
• Miha Ravnik
• Lisa Moevius
• Ioannis Zacharoudiou
• Irwin Zaid
• Mitya Pushkin
• Henry Shum

Links:

• Oxford University
• Oxford Physics
• Theoretical Physics
• Condensed Matter Theory
• Theory of Soft and Biological Matter
• Oxford Argentine Tango Portal

Collaborators:

• Anna Balazs
• Issam Ali
• Davide Marenduzzo
• Enzo Orlandini
• Olivier Pierre-Louis

Back to current research interest
Back to Nature's Raincoats

Drops on micropatterned surfaces

If a hydrophobic surface is patterned with micron scale posts it can become superhydrophobic. The surface is strongly water repellent, and drops slide off very easily. There are many examples where nature has exploited superhydrophobic designs, for example, on the surfaces of leave to aid the run-off of rainwater. We are using analytic and numerical approaches to understand the phase transitions and dynamics of drops on patterned surfaces with the aim of improving microchannel design. More information about superhydrophobic surfaces can be found here.

A natural (above) and fabricated (below)superhydrophobic surface.	Click here to view a computer simulation of a drop on a superhydrophobic surface	Water drops on a natural (above) and fabricated (below) superhydrophobic surface
Image courtesy of Prof D Quere and Dr M Reyssat	Image courtesy of Dr S Brewer	Image courtesy of Prof D Quere and Dr M Reyssat
	A different mechanism for hydrophobicity: Hairs on a hydrophilic surface.

Recent Publications:

1. Partial-post Laplace barriers for virtual confinement, Lab on a Chip 11, 4221 (2011).

2. Modeling receding contact lines on superhydrophobic surfaces. Langmuir 26, 18162 (2010).

3. Anisotropic hysteresis on ratcheted superhydrophobic surfaces, Soft Matter 5, 2704 (2009) [arxiv]

3. Capillary filling in patterned channels, Physical Review E 77, 067301 (2008) [arxiv]

4. The collapse transition on superhydrophobic surfaces, Europhys Lett. 81, 36003 (2007) [arxiv]

5. Modelling contact angle hysteresis on chemically patterned and superhydrophobic surfaces, Langmuir 23, 6019 (2007) [arxiv]