When horse chestnut extract aescin is added to the stirred water surface, the ripples freeze like solid crystals, but the water is still liquid. Researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid led people to discover this peculiar state of matter.
by Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) And published on Nature Communications A new state of matter is described for the first time: Hydrodynamic crystalsComposed of fluid in motion, albeit arranged in a crystalline and static solid state.
“The discovery of this peculiar state of matter transfers our imagination to many situations, from the understanding of the basic laws governing the structure of matter on any scale, to the application in new technologies, and new fluid dynamics in new technologies. Crystals can be used as templates. They can be made of new biocompatible materials”, emphatically pointed out Francisco Monroy, Researcher of UCM Department of Physical Chemistry.
it is New glass When the excited wave on the water surface is called- Faraday Wave And form when the liquid vibrates, for example in a vibrator-order immediately after adding special additives Esina.
The substance is used as an anti-inflammatory and vasoconstrictor drug and is extracted from nuts, such as Horse chestnut. It is also used as a “superfood” in a cholesterol-lowering diet.
“Under normal circumstances, the waves will appear very messy in our’shaker’, but the presence of additives alone is sufficient. Freezing wave In a pattern, it is a perfect tile, as if it is a solid crystal, but made of liquid water. “Monroe explained.
The waves are blocked by plant extracts
In order to carry out this research, scientists from the University of Francisco de Victoria and the Autonomous University of Mexico also participated in the research, and Monroy returned to Ideas conceived 20 years ago During the postdoctoral period in the Orsay (France) Solid State Physics Laboratory, although it has been achieved in the process of completing the thesis Mikheil Kharbedia, The first author of this work.
“Use one speaker In order to stimulate water waves and containers containing a small amount of dissolved aescin, we have made a simple system that can produce Faraday Wave The hydraulic glass is perfectly arranged on the water surface. However, without additives, the surface looks completely disordered,” Monroe said.
The researchers said that because aescin is a natural plant substance, “this biocompatibility is essential for the future application of new’crystals’ in biotechnology.”
New concepts in textbooks
“I think the new concept and its practical application will soon be incorporated into the textbook as a model of modern knowledge,” Monroe said.
“In particular-he concluded-the physics hypothesis of the hydrodynamic crystal and the Faraday wave packet that constitutes it is the classical equivalent of ordinary crystals and matter waves.”Broglie“Research on Modern Physics Books.”
reference:
M.Kharbedia, N.Caselli, D.Herráez-Aguilar Wait. “Molding a hydrodynamic two-dimensional crystal in a shear-functionalized water surface on a parametric Faraday wave.” Nature Communications 12, 1130 (2021).
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