Overturning a 200-year belief: New surface design enables two distinct wetting states on a single substrate
NIMS discovered a phenomenon in which droplets on a single solid surface exhibit both a "sticky" and "repellent" state simultaneously. Namely, the wetting behavior branches into two states. This is a discovery that overturns interface chemistry scientists' belief held for over 200 years that, on a n...
May 20, 2026186 views
Image: Phys.org
NIMS discovered a phenomenon in which droplets on a single solid surface exhibit both a "sticky" and "repellent" state simultaneously. Namely, the wetting behavior branches into two states. This is a discovery that overturns interface chemistry scientists' belief held for over 200 years that, on a non-textured surface, the wetting state is uniquely determined by solid/liquid combinations. Furthermore, the research team also clarified a universal surface design principle that causes this phenomenon. This research result was published in Advanced Materials Interfaces on April 2, 2026.
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