Sintering behavior of two roughened crystals just after contact.

We consider two spherical, roughened crystals with approximately isotropic surface free energy, which are brought into contact and begin to sinter. We argue that the geometry immediately postcontact is two dimensional and Cartesian and can be approximated by the evolution of a slot-shaped cavity. On this basis, we construct traveling wave solutions for the crystal shape in the limits of bulk- and surface-diffusion-limited kinetics.

Surface properties of class ii hydrophobins from Trichoderma reesei and influence on bubble stability.

We report the remarkable surface behavior of class II hydrophobin proteins HFBI and HFBII from Trichoderma reesei and the resulting effect that these proteins have on the stability of air bubbles to the process of disproportionation. The surface properties were studied using surface tensiometry and surface shear rheology. Surface tensiometry data show that hydrophobins are very surface active proteins, reducing the surface tension to approximately 30 mN m-1.