U.S.-U.K. Cooperative Research: Statistical Mechanics of Interfaces

9400099 Cole This three-year award supports U.S.-U.K. cooperative research in materials science between Milton Cole of Pennsylvania State University and Julia Yeomans of Oxford University. The focus of their research is physical adsorption on surfaces. Two principal topics will receive attention: capillary condensation in porous media; and wetting and prewetting phenomena. The U.S. and U.K. investigators, who are theoretical physicists, have considerable expertise and overlapping interests. They will collaborate on calculations and new models. The field of physical adsorption has received much attention in the last few years because of its technological importance. While this proposal addresses fundamental questions of interest to surface scientists and chemical engineers, its topics underpin important technologies for pollution control, catalysis and chemical segregation. ***