title: Smart and green interfaces: from single bubbles/drops to industrial environmental and biomedical applications.
abstract: Interfaces can be called Smart and Green (S&G) when tailored such that the required technologies can be implemented with high efficiency, adaptability and selectivity. At the same time they also have to be eco-friendly, i.e. products must be biodegradable, reusable or simply more durable. Bubble and drop interfaces are in many of these smart technologies the fundamental entities and help develop smart products of the everyday life. Significant improvements of these processes and products can be achieved by implementing and manipulating specific properties of these interfaces in a simple and smart way, in order to accomplish specific tasks. The severe environmental issues require in addition attributing eco-friendly features to these interfaces, by incorporating innovative, or, sometimes, recycle materials and conceiving new production processes which minimize the use of natural resources and energy. Such concept can be extended to include important societal challenges related to support a sustainable development and a healthy population. The achievement of such ambitious targets requires the technology research to be supported by a robust development of theoretical and experimental tools, needed to understand in more details the behavior of complex interfaces. A wide but not exhaustive review of recent work concerned with green and smart interfaces is presented, addressing different scientific and technological fields. The presented approaches reveal a huge potential in relation to various technological fields, such as nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, medical diagnostics, and new or improved materials.
authors.affiliation: Engineering of Fibrous Smart Materials, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dutschk
authors.affiliation: Dept. Chemical Technologies, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: karapant@chem.auth.gr.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Karapantsios
authors.affiliation: CNR-Istituto per l'Energetica e le Interfasi, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liggieri
authors.affiliation: Drop Technology, Tallaght Business Park, Whitestown, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam/Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Dept. Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Starov
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D004573:Electrolytes; D004655:Emulsions; D004867:Equipment Design; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D055772:Green Chemistry Technology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012119:Respiration; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D003102:Colloids; D004573:Electrolytes; D004655:Emulsions; D005740:Gases; D020100:Hydrogels; D014867:Water
keywords: Gas–liquid interfaces; Gas–liquid–solid interfaces; Liquid–liquid interfaces; Nanomaterials; Spreading; Wetting