Creating thin (< 100 nm) hydrophobic coatings that are durable in wet conditions remains
challenging. Although the dropwise condensation of steam on thin hydrophobic coatings …

Microfabrication, the process of fabricating small structures usually in micrometre scale, has
wide practical applications but confronts sustainability challenges due to the substantial …

Colloidal self-assembly has attracted significant interest in numerous applications including
optics, electrochemistry, thermofluidics, and biomolecule templating. To meet the …

Opals are naturally occurring photonic crystals which can be formed easily using low-cost
self-assembly methods. While the optical behaviour of opals has received significant …

Solid-liquid interactions are central to diverse processes. The interaction strength can be
described by the solid-liquid interfacial free energy (γ SL), a quantity that is difficult to …

Thin films are widely-used functional materials that have attracted much interest in academic
and industrial applications. With thin films becoming micro/nanoscale, developing a simple …

Peeling is a fundamental physical behavior involving the removal of foreign substances
attached to a surface, and it finds applications in various engineering problems. Most …

The extraordinary mechanical capabilities of 2D self-supporting nanofilms render them
highly desirable for fabricating flexible devices. These films possess unique structural …

Ultrathin polymer nanocomposite films are gaining importance in electronic, optical,
magnetic, or sensor devices with widespread applications in the areas of electronics …

The anomalous dynamics of thin polymer films, often attributed to geometrical confinement
and interfacial interaction, have aroused considerable interest, particularly with regard to the …