Like many scientists, Wei Wang takes a cue from nature when approaching his research.
A simple example, he said, is the lotus leaf. The combination of surface roughness and waxy layer “makes the lotus leaf extremely repellent to water.”
Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award for his research on the way liquids interact with soft textured surfaces.
This work could have wide-ranging applications, such as smart wearable devices, wastewater treatment, self-cleaning textiles, and more.
The CAREER Award will provide Wang with a total of $505,407 over five years.
Wang’s research interest lies in surface and interfacial science, with a focus on achieving a fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena as well as developing novel functional surfaces, including sustainable liquid-repellent surfaces; soft functional surfaces; and porous membranes with special wetting properties.
Wang said that researchers have long been interested in the way liquids interact with rigid textured surfaces. Such science has resulted in a myriad of everyday applications, such as coatings for reducing food waste.
In the past decade or so, researchers have turned their attention to the interactions of liquids and soft smooth surfaces, like rubber.
Wang said he will take this a step further by looking at what happens when liquids interact with soft textured surfaces.
“There is a lack of understanding of how the interplay between morphology, viscoelasticity, and surface-active agents regulates soft wetting,” Wang said in his CAREER project proposal. “Understanding the wetting behavior of liquids on soft surfaces is of significant scientific importance toward the design of functional surfaces with enhanced adaptability and sustainability for environmental and healthcare applications. The goal of this research is to investigate how micro-texture and softness of polymeric substrates synergistically affect wetting behavior of various liquids, including both simple liquids and liquids containing surfactants.”
As part of his CAREER project, Wang will be creating a “Magic of Soft Surfaces” kit that will engage elementary, middle, and high school students in fun science experiments and provide training opportunities for science teachers.
Wang came to UT in August 2020 after completing his doctorate at Binghamton University in New York. He did postdoctoral research at North Carolina State University and Colorado State University.
Wang said he got interested in this area of science because it has many potential applications for various industries. And because the work is highly interdisciplinary, pulling in surface science, materials science, physics, and engineering, “I can always learn new things.”
In addition to this CAREER Award, Wang received a 2022-23 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award—a competitive research grant given to junior faculty members by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Wang used that funding in his work to design novel ice-repellent surfaces that have ultra-low adhesion to ice.