Biographical Information:
Carolina Brito obtained her M.Sc.and Ph.D degrees in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (IF-UFRGS), Brazil. She did a post-doc in CEA-Saclay, and at the University of Leiden. Since 2010 she is professor at the IF-UFRGS. Her work is divided between the three pillars: teaching, research and scientific outreach. I teach subjects for engineering and physics courses. I do research in mechanical statistics, with an emphasis on complex systems, amorphous materials and superhydrophobic surfaces. In recent years, her research has expanded to a biophysical field by applying concepts of disordered materials to understand some properties of proteins. She was a member of the Statistical Physics Commission (C3) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) from 2019 to 2021.Abstract:
Metastability in wetting phenomena
When a droplet of water is placed on a surface, it can exhibit distinct behaviors: it may spread across the surface, resembling a thin film, or it may take the form of a bead, sitting as a spherical shape. These behaviors are linked to the concepts of hydrophilic and hydrophobic wetting states. Interestingly, certain surfaces demonstrate metastability, which means that depending on how the droplet is deposited, multiple wetting states can emerge. What surface properties contribute to these intriguing behaviors? How can we effectively characterize and gain insights into the transitions between these states? In this seminar, I will delve into these phenomena, presenting a theoretical model and simulations that provide valuable tools for exploring and understanding this complex behavior [1, 2].[1] Marion Silvestrini, Antonio Tinti, Alberto Giacomello, and Carolina Brito, Can One Predict a Drop Contact Angle?, Adv. Mater. Interfaces (2021) 2101005
[2] Iara Patrícia da Silva Ramos, Cristina Gavazzoni, Davi Lazzari, Carolina Brito, Hierarchical structured surfaces enhance the contact angle of the hydrophobic (meta-stable) state, J. Chem. Phys. 158, 154703 (2023)