Materials IQ Workshop: «Novelties in wetting: wettability, anti-icing, a never ending story?»

24.06.2024 till 24.06.2024 | Empa, Feuerwerkerstrasse 8, 8820 Thun

Remarkable progress has been made in surface wettability & icephobicity. However, it remains a challenge to preserve the efficiency of this functio-nalization in the long term. Promising designs require a good understand-ding of the interfacial dynamics between water and substrate. Nature provides us with valuable inspiration for this. Overall, the durability of surfaces with special functionalities in nature is a result of their intricate structural designs, material properties, and adaptation to environmental challenges through the process of evolution.

Our experts address the state of the art and and it’s growing application in the e-mobility, aerospace, energy generation & transmission sectors as well as in various high-tech products.
Program

13.00	General assembly 2024 Association NTN Innovative Surfaces (everyone is welcome) Dr. Andreas Hafner, NTN Innovative Surfaces Dr. Jörg Güttinger, NTN Innovative Surfaces
13.45	Workshop welcome Prof. Dr. Patrik Hoffmann, Empa
13.50	Lessons from Nature: Bioinspired Mechanically Durable and Self-healing Superliquiphilic/phobic Surfaces Prof. Bharat Bhushan PhD, The Ohio State University
14.35	Structured or slippery flat surfaces – which way to go? Prof. Dr. Patrik Hofmann, Empa
15.00	Labtour: “Advanced Materials Processing Lab, Empa“ (2-3 groups)
16.00	Effect of micro-texturing on the wettability of tribological surfaces Markus Varga, AC2T research GmbH
16.25	Laser generated nanostructures inspired by nature Prof. Dr. Rainer Kling, Berner Fachhochschule
17.00	Concluding remarks followed by apéro