A SMART surface that can either attract or repel water at just the flick of a switch is being hailed as a breakthrough, as it is the first designed to instantly change its physical properties.
The surface is made from a substance called 16-mercapto-hexadecanoic acid (MHA). Molecules of the acid are almost tree-shaped – a long water-repelling chain forms the trunk, on top of which sits a negatively charged carboxylate group that attracts water.
The key to the smart surface is how these molecules are arranged. The designers allowed millions of molecules to self assemble into a monolayer sitting atop…
