Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Density and Archimedes' Principle01:05

Density and Archimedes' Principle

6.5K
When a lump of clay is dropped into water, it sinks. But if the same lump of clay is molded into the shape of a boat, it starts to float. Because of its shape, the clay boat displaces more water than the lump and experiences a greater buoyant force, even though its mass is the same. The same holds true for steel ships. The average density of an object majorly determines if the object will float. If an object's average density is less than that of the surrounding fluid, it will float. The...
6.5K
Buoyancy and Stability for Submerged and Floating Bodies01:11

Buoyancy and Stability for Submerged and Floating Bodies

3.6K
In fluid mechanics, buoyancy and stability are key concepts for understanding the behavior of submerged and floating bodies. When a stationary body is fully or partially submerged in a fluid, the fluid exerts a force on the body known as the buoyant force. This force acts vertically upward through a point called the center of buoyancy, which is the center of the displaced fluid volume. According to Archimedes' principle, the magnitude of the buoyant force is equal to the weight of the fluid...
3.6K
Buoyancy01:12

Buoyancy

8.9K
When an object is placed in a fluid, it either floats or sinks. All objects in a fluid experience a buoyant force. For example, a metal ball sinks, while a rubber ball floats. Similarly, a submarine can sink and float by adjusting its buoyancy.  The concept of buoyancy raises several interesting questions. For instance, where does this buoyant force come from? How much buoyant force is required to make an object sink or float? Do objects that sink get any support at all from the...
8.9K
Colloids03:22

Colloids

17.1K
Children at play often make suspensions such as mixtures of mud and water, flour and water, or a suspension of solid pigments in water known as tempera paint. These suspensions are heterogeneous mixtures composed of relatively large particles that are visible to the naked eye or can be seen with a magnifying glass. They are cloudy, and the suspended particles settle out after mixing. On the other hand, a solution is a homogeneous mixture in which no settling occurs and in which the dissolved...
17.1K
Archimedes' Principle01:13

Archimedes' Principle

9.5K
Archimedes' principle states that an upward buoyant force exerted on a body that is immersed partially or entirely in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by it. To understand how much buoyant force is needed to make an object float, let us think about what happens when a submerged object is removed from a fluid. If the object were not in the fluid, the space occupied by the object would be filled by the fluid having a weight wfl. This weight is supported by the...
9.5K
Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble01:13

Excess Pressure Inside a Drop and a Bubble

3.5K
The shape of a small drop of liquid can be considered spherical, neglecting the effect of gravity. This drop can further be considered as two equal hemispherical drops put together due to surface tension. The forces acting on the spherical drop are due to the pressure of the liquid inside the drop, the pressure due to air outside the drop, and the force due to the surface tension acting on the two hemispherical drops.
3.5K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

How Spontaneous Electrowetting and Surface Charge Affect Drop Motion.

Physical review letters·2026
Same author

Fabrication of Janus Supraparticles by Induced Phase Separation by Gravity.

ACS nano·2026
Same author

Wetting of granular and porous materials.

Advances in colloid and interface science·2026
Same author

Transparent and airtight silica nano- and microchannels with uniform tubular cross-section.

Soft matter·2026
Same author

Water Drops Sliding Over Arrays of Janus Micropillars With Hydrophilic Tops: A New Mechanism of Drop Charging.

Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

Silica Sol-Gel Coatings for Solar Panels: Drop Friction and Particle Adhesion.

ACS applied materials & interfaces·2026
Same journal

Controlled Secondary Growth of CAU-1-NH<sub>2</sub> Membranes with Improved CO<sub>2</sub> Separation Performance.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same journal

Facile Fabrication and Stable Mechanism of a Microscale Heavy Calcium Carbonate Suspension.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same journal

Polycationic Biocidal Coatings: The Mechanism of Their Interaction with Cells.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same journal

Atomic-Scale Displacement in Ordered SmMnO<sub>3</sub> Nanoislands.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same journal

Vacancy Defect Modulated Interfacial Thermal Transport and Phonon Localization in AlGaN/GaN Heterojunctions.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
Same journal

Immobilization of Ytterbium via Polyphenol Chemistry on Implant Materials for Enhanced Cytocompatibility and Antibacterial Properties.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
08:38

Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications

Published on: January 16, 2018

10.3K

Floating on oil.

Jihua Zhang1, Xu Deng, Hans-Jürgen Butt

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research , Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|August 12, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Superamphiphobic steel meshes float on water and organic liquids, supporting significant weight. Inspired by nature, artificial devices mimic this capability, demonstrating self-draining properties for advanced liquid manipulation.

More Related Videos

Impacts of Free-falling Spheres on a Deep Liquid Pool with Altered Fluid and Impactor Surface Conditions
08:49

Impacts of Free-falling Spheres on a Deep Liquid Pool with Altered Fluid and Impactor Surface Conditions

Published on: February 17, 2019

5.8K
Author Spotlight: Developing Cost-Effective and Customizable Balloon Tags for Fish Passage Studies
07:41

Author Spotlight: Developing Cost-Effective and Customizable Balloon Tags for Fish Passage Studies

Published on: October 13, 2023

2.5K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
08:38

Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications

Published on: January 16, 2018

10.3K
Impacts of Free-falling Spheres on a Deep Liquid Pool with Altered Fluid and Impactor Surface Conditions
08:49

Impacts of Free-falling Spheres on a Deep Liquid Pool with Altered Fluid and Impactor Surface Conditions

Published on: February 17, 2019

5.8K
Author Spotlight: Developing Cost-Effective and Customizable Balloon Tags for Fish Passage Studies
07:41

Author Spotlight: Developing Cost-Effective and Customizable Balloon Tags for Fish Passage Studies

Published on: October 13, 2023

2.5K

Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Surface Chemistry
  • Fluid Dynamics

Background:

  • Superamphiphobic surfaces repel both water and oil.
  • Floating structures leverage surface tension for support.
  • Biomimicry offers inspiration for novel device design.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate the floating capability of superamphiphobic steel meshes on various liquids.
  • To quantify the loading capacity of these coated meshes.
  • To design and test biomimetic devices inspired by the study's findings.

Main Methods:

  • Coating disk-shaped steel meshes with a superamphiphobic layer.
  • Measuring supporting forces and loading capacities experimentally.
  • Designing and fabricating artificial 'oil lilies' and 'oil striders'.

Main Results:

  • Coated steel meshes exhibit stable flotation on water and n-hexadecane.
  • A 1 cm radius mesh supports 17 mN in water and 9 mN in n-hexadecane.
  • Biomimetic devices show enhanced loading capacity and self-draining capabilities via capillary forces.

Conclusions:

  • Superamphiphobic coatings enable robust liquid flotation for steel meshes.
  • The developed artificial devices demonstrate high load-bearing and self-cleaning properties.
  • This research opens avenues for advanced liquid handling and buoyancy applications.