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scientist have discovered a way to write directly into liquid H2O , creating clear and long - lasting patterns which float below the surface of the fluid .
In the new study , published Aug. 21 in the journalNano Micro Small , Benno Liebchenand colleagues at the Technical University of Darmstadt and Johnannes Gutenberg University in Germany have developed a method acting to create long - last writing inside of a liquid state . The water supply - writing swear on a chemical substance cognitive process call diffusioosmosis — a spontaneous bowel movement of different types of molecule , make by a departure in concentration within a fluid mixture .
One-line drawing of a complex pattern with rectangular and 45° angles as well as multiple line crossings. The inset shows the intended result.
The team ’s fluent mixture , which contains a low denseness of charge particles called ions , acts as the " composition . " The " ink " is made up of large colloidal ( square ) subatomic particle , which are dispersed thinly through the integral resolution . The " pen " is a undivided little ion - exchange bead — a particle which is able-bodied to swap the charge particles in the fluid mixture for different , smaller supercharged particles .
" When you exchange larger ion with smaller ion , the pocket-sized ions can move ( diffuse ) faster and that lead to a divergence in concentration , " Liebchen recount Live Science . " This concentration slope in the ion distribution force the liquidness at the bottom of the container near where the astragal is to move . The moving liquid carry the visible colloidal particles ( the ' ink ' ) along with it . "
come to : What ’s the highest temperature urine can freeze , and the lowest it can boil on Earth ?
Successive downscaling of pattern size. The length of the horizontals is 500 µm (a), 350 µm (b), and 175 µm (c).(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
By splay the liquidity ( paper ) on a small degree , Liebchen and Palberg exploited gravity to channelise the ion - exchange bead playpen through the solution to produce unlike patterns . As the bead moves through the liquid , the colloidal particles are drawn into its backwash by this denseness slope effect , resulting in a seeable line where the pen has been .
" Importantly , because the playpen is small , it does n’t trouble the surround solvent too much — a turgid penitentiary would fight the water and put down what you were write , " Liebchen said . " The colloidal molecule are too big and weighed down to move much in still water within the time scales of the experimentation which is why the lines stay on visible . "
The team make grow this proficiency using urine as the paper and silica particles as the ink so they next explore whether other newspaper , pen , and ink combinations figure out .
Sinusoidal line written in the BD simulation with parameters close to typical experimental ones. Note the slight, leftward shift of the written line with respect to the IEX trajectory (solid yellow line).(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
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Lower case Greek letter phi with loop and line crossing. Note the bending of the crossed line and the formation of a region of enhanced density along the freshly written line (dashed circle). Inset: Writing at high IEX speed of vIEX = 10 µm s−1 reduces blobbing but retains line bending.(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
" Many aspects of the writing feeler are quite robust with respect to shift those constituent , but there are terminal point of course , " said Liebchen . " For instance , if the ink particles are too little , you would n’t see them very well or they would move too much whereas if they ’re too big , they would n’t succeed the fluid very well . It ’s a Libra but overall the method is quite general . "
The squad are now seem at different way of steering the playpen by using magnetism or electric fields or else of graveness and possibly extending this organization into deep liquid mixtures .
Avoiding blob formation upon line crossing by mere line touching.(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
Initials of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, written with C-IEX45 in 0.2 wt.% Si832.(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
Initials of the Technical University of Darmstadt written in a BD simulation with vIEX = 12 µm s−1.(Image credit: Lukas Hecht)
