Corrosion-Resistive ZrO Barrier Films on Selected Zn-Based Alloys.

This work presents the enhanced corrosion resistance of newly developed two-layer composite coatings deposited on low-carbon steel: electrodeposited zinc alloy coatings (Zn-Ni with 10 wt.% Ni (ZN) or Zn-Co with 3 wt.% Co (ZC), respectively) and a top ZrO sol-gel layer.

Oppositely charged surfactants and nanoparticles at the air-water interface: Influence of surfactant to nanoparticle ratio.

Hypothesis: The interactions between oppositely charged nanoparticles and surfactants can significantly influence the interfacial properties of the system. Traditionally, in the study of such systems, the nanoparticle concentration is varied while the surfactant concentration is kept constant, or vice versa. However, we believe that a defined variation of both components' concentration is necessary to accurately assess their effects on the interfacial properties of the system.

Effect of selected monovalent salts on surfactant stabilized foams.

Surfactant-stabilized foams have been at the centre of scientific research for over a century due to their ubiquitous applications in different industries. Many of these applications involve inorganic salts either due to their natural presence (e.g.

Monolayer formed by l-Asp-based gemini surfactants self-assembled in 1D nanostructures.

Herein, studies on the surface activities of newly synthesized l-Asp-based gemini surfactants, both nonionic and anionic, are presented. Conductometry, tensiometry, and the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film technique were applied for this purpose. - isotherms were obtained with a Langmuir trough and Wilhelmy balance.

On the nature of the superspreaders.

This is a review article on the basic and the latest achievements on superspreading. The complete and fast spreading of droplets on many surfaces in the nature is a special phenomenon discovered in 1960-ies Intensive studies on this phenomenon have been conducted since that time, but the mechanism of superspreading remained in completely unveiled till nowadays. Here we scrutinized the basic literature on superspreading from the last 25 years and also present results related to superspreaders acquired in the present work.

Surface tension and surface Δχ-potential of concentrated Z+:Z- electrolyte solutions.

Schmutzer's model for the surface of aqueous electrolyte solutions is generalized to Z+:Z- salts. The thickness of the ion-free layer is calculated from the thickness of the "hydrophobic gap" at the water surface (1.38Å) and the radii of the ionic hydration shells.

Delta-comb potential in modeling three-phase contact line (TPCL) on periodically patterned surfaces.

This work is a study of wetting of small water droplets on smooth glass surfaces with periodic patterns in the form of imprinted net with hydrophilic cells and hydrophobic bars. Microcover slides consisted of soda lime glass were used. The imprinted images of the net were with cell sizes in the range 40-200 μm, which corresponds to a quite narrow scope of hydrophilic surface fractions f(1)(30-36%) due to the relative increase in the size of the hydrophobic bars.

Properties of mixed monolayers of clinical lung surfactant, serum albumin and hydrophilic polymers.

It is now established that the surface activity of the clinically used lung surfactant is reduced by serum proteins and can be restored by adding the hydrophilic polymers. The mechanisms of lung surfactant inactivation by serum proteins and restoring effect by the hydrophilic polymers remain not completely understood. In this paper the state and rheological dilatational properties of surface films formed from clinical lung surfactant Exosurf, Survanta, Curosurf and Alveofact in the presence of serum albumin (BSA) and hydrophilic polymers polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Dextran were studied.

Morphological instabilities of polymer crystals.

We present experimental observations at comparatively low supercooling of morphology transitions from dendritic to faceted structures in polymer crystals growing in thin films of a poly-2-vinylpyridine-block-polyethyleneoxid copolymer. Our results are compared with theoretical concepts describing morphological instabilities of single crystals. Although these concepts originally were not developed for polymers, they allow to describe and interpret our experimental results quite well.

The influence of protic non-solvents present in the environment on structure formation of poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) in organic solvents.

We present an experimental study of structure formation in a polypeptide hetero-arm star block copolymer solution, obtained by swelling thin films in chloroform solvent vapor to variable poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) (PBLGlu) concentrations (cp). Direct observation by optical microscopy allowed us to follow in real time nucleation and growth of ordered three-dimensional structures of ellipsoidal shape. At low cp, growth stopped when cp decreased below the solubility limit (ccritical) but additional structures were formed when cp was rapidly increased to a higher value.