The newly-discovered shape-recovering liquids defy long-held expectations derived from the laws of thermodynamics, according to a team of physicists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
This image shows emulsion droplets stabilized by silica nanoparticles with remaining nickel nanoparticles on the droplet surface. Image credit: Raykh et al., doi: 10.1038/s41567-025-02865-1.
“Imagine your favorite Italian salad dressing,” said University of Massachusetts Amherst Professor Thomas Russell.
“It’s made up of oil, water and spices, and before you pour it onto your salad, you shake it up so that all the ingredients mix.”
“It’s those spices, those small bits of something else, that allow water and oil, which are normally mutually exclusive, to mix, a…