EventDetails

Speaker:
Dr. Stefan Karpitschka, MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen

Soft Interfaces in Motion

The interfacial mechanics of soft materials are ubiquitous in everyday life and technology. They determine, for instance, the motion of water droplets on our skin, the folds that develop as we bend our arm, or the way that an adhesive tape peels. Just like liquids, solid interfaces bear an excess energy that gives rise to capillary phenomena. Wherever soft surfaces are strongly curved, for example at the edge of a contact with a liquid or another solid, capillarity prevails. In this talk, I will elucidate the remarkable similarity between solids and liquids at their moving contacts.