Laboratoire de Physique de l'Ecole normale supérieure (LPENS) a republié ceci
Seawater desalination membranes, electrochemical supercapacitors - alternative to batteries - and hydrogen electrolyzers. What do these three technologies all have in common ? In these 3 systems, on which we rely for the energy transition, efficiency is greatly influenced by the dynamics of liquid molecules close to a solid interface. In our new study, published in Nature Communications we measure the friction of a liquid on a molecularly smooth solid surface using an atomic force microscope. Our key innovation is to use a supercooled glass-forming liquid : glycerol, as a means to control the timescale of molecular movements. We show that previous models cannot account for our measurements and that phononic excitations in solid surfaces may play a key role in the transport and dynamics of confined liquids. As this study affects our understanding of the liquid-solid interface in general, we will now explore the broader consequences on the aforementioned industrially-relevant processes. I thank Guilhem Mariette, my theoretician collaborator Baptiste Coquinot, my former PhD advisors Alessandro Siria and Lyderic Bocquet along with the Laboratoire de Physique de l'Ecole normale supérieure (LPENS). https://lnkd.in/ebDBqhK5