Researchers of non-wetting surfaces and meanings of Renaissance fashion awarded €2 million EU grants

A surface is superhydrophobic when it repels water to the degree that droplets do not stick to the surface and roll off easily. Photo Mika Latikka.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded ERC Consolidator Grants of about €2 million to the five-year research projects of Professor Robin Ras and Professor Paula Hohti from Aalto University.

In his Superslippery Liquid-Repellent Surfaces project, Robin Ras aims to fabricate new surfaces and to advance their potential for technological applications for example in anti-icing and in the prevention of bio-fouling (when microorganisms or other biological materials accumulate on a surface).

'In this ERC project,' says Ras, 'I aim to substantially progress the development of new types of enhanced non-wetting surfaces. Additionally, I will advance characterization techniques and explore new applications for such surfaces.'

Superhydrophobic surfaces have tremendous application potential because of their anti-icing and anti-bio-fouling properties. For example, clothes, camera lenses, and phones could be kept dry and clean, as well as cars, ships, airplanes, and solar cells could stay clean of contamination and ice. Another potential field of application is microfluidics, where small volumes of liquid are flowing through channels, and cleanliness of the surfaces is very important. Superhydrophobic surfaces could be implemented, for example, in medical diagnostic lab-on-a-chip devices for blood testing and analysis.

Professor Paula Hohti’s research project, Re-fashioning the Renaissance: Popular Groups, Fashion and the Material and Cultural Significance of Clothing in Europe, 1550-1650, investigates transformations and dissemination of fashion in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe, especially among lower social groups in Italy and Scandinavia, and evaluates the broader significance of these changes in Western European fashions. They will explore the potentials and meaning of a new material-based approach for studies of historical dress and fashion.

European Research Council (erc.europa.eu)

More information

Professor Robin Ras
Department of Applied Physics
Centre of Excellence in Molecular Engineering of Biosynthetic Hybrid Materials
Tel. +358 50 432 6633
[email protected]
Read more about Robin Ras' ERC project

Professorr Paula Hohti
Department of Arts
Tel. +358 50 438 4180
[email protected]