Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Drawing and Hydrophobicity-patterning Long Polydimethylsiloxane Silicone Filaments
Published on: January 7, 2019
Electric conductivity percolation in naturally dehydrating, lightly wetted, hydrophilic fumed silica powder
Dagmara Sokolowska1, Daniel Dziob, Urszula Gorska
1Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
Abstract:
In studying the dehydration of surface-moistened fumed silica Aerosil powders, we found a conductivity percolation transition at low hydration levels. Both the percolation exponent and the threshold are typical for correlated site-bond transitions in complex two-dimensional (2D) systems. The exponent values, 0.94-1.10, are indicative of severe heterogeneity in the conducting medium. The surface moisture at the percolation threshold takes on a universal value of 0.65 mg([H2O])/m(2)([silica]), independent of the silica grain size, and equivalent to twice the first hydration monolayer. This level is just sufficient to sustain a quasi-2D, hydrogen-bonded water network spanning the silica surface.
More Related Videos
09:39Proof-of-Concept for Gas-Entrapping Membranes Derived from Water-Loving SiO2/Si/SiO2 Wafers for Green Desalination
Published on: March 1, 2020
09:14Flow-assisted Dielectrophoresis: A Low Cost Method for the Fabrication of High Performance Solution-processable Nanowire Devices
Published on: December 7, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Debye–Huckel–Onsager Conductance Equation
Colloidal precipitates
Washing, Drying, and Ignition of Precipitates
Preparation of Samples for Electron Microscopy
Electrical Transport
Precipitation and Co-precipitation