soft wetting • phase change • transport phenomena

I am a postdoc working on the wetting of soft materials such as biological membranes or soft gels. Currently, I am part of the Center for Biochemistry, at the University of Cologne.

My research focuses on the interactions between liquids and soft substrates. Both interact by exchange of mass, momentum, and energy.
Particularly interesting are cases where the substrate is not inert but adapts in shape and composition to the wetting liquid (and vice versa).
Phase change (liquid-liquid/sol-gel separation, condensation/evaporation/frosting, dehydration) is another aspect of my research.
I mainly utilize optical techniques such as confocal microscopy, interferometry, and high-speed recording.
I am also interested in modeling observations from the lab theoretically. For this, I use mean-field approaches and numerical modeling.

lukas.hauer@uni-koeln.de Scholar RG ORCID gitHub

research highlights

Review on soft wetting

In this review, we discuss the structural properties of the three most common types of silicone surfaces and their static and dynamic wetting properties. We review experimental and theoretical approaches for soft wetting.

Hauer et al. Soft Matter 20 (2024): 5273

Phase separation in moving wetting ridges

Drops in contact with swollen, elastomeric substrates can induce a capillary-mediated phase separation in the tip of wetting ridges. Here, we investigate how this tip separation couples with drop sliding speed.

Hauer et al. PRL 130.5 (2023): 058205.

Frost fractals

In nature, frost emerges a symphony of nucleation, heat, and mass transport, cascading from angstroms to several meters. We find that the ambient humidity is a critical parameter that tunes the fractality of frost patches: in humid environments frost forms bulky, while in dryer conditions, fractal patterns form, resembling snowflakes.

Hauer et al. Phys. Rev. E 104.4 (2021): 044901.

Spreading Frost Under the Microscope - APS Physics

Humidity controls frost pattern formation - physicsworld

Hydrogels exposed to flowing silicone oil

We investigate the shrinkage of a surface-grafted water-swollen hydrogel under shear flows of oils by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Dehydration is modelled as an activation process. Computational fluid dynamics supports experimental findings.

Baumli, Hauer et al. Soft Matter 18.2 (2022): 365-371.

Frost-lubricant interactions

Frost formation on oil-lubricated surfaces forms a transient system of solid-fluid interactions. The emerging frost couples to the oil via capillary interactions, leading to a soaking of the oil into the frost. Here, we investigate these interactions i) experimentally, with a frosting set-up, mounted to a confocal microscope, and ii) with a hydrodynamic, long-wave model that we solve numerically. Understanding the frost-oil interactions helps to design robust anti-frosting surfaces that enhance power efficiency and mitigate damages in, e.g., infrastructure.

Hauer et al. ACS Nano 15.3 (2021): 4658-4668.

Cryofouling on antarctic scallops

Cryofouling on organisms in cold maritime environments has deadly consequences. The avoidance of surface icing (i.e., cryofouling) is a pivotal factor in the evolutionary strategy of arctic life forms. We investigate the surface structure and the anti-cryofouling capabilities of the scallop Adamussium colbecki. We find that the surface texture of the arctic shell leads to efficient ice removal, compared to related scallop organisms.

Wong, Hauer et al. Commun. Biol. 5.1 (2022): 83.

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