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A Hydrophobic Comparison of Ceramics to UHMWPE. Background. Ski bases are made out of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Has not changed in almost the entire history of skiing Coated with a fluorocarbon wax to make more hydrophobic
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Background • Ski bases are made out of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene • Has not changed in almost the entire history of skiing • Coated with a fluorocarbon wax to make more hydrophobic • Main problem with ski bases is that they are soft and take scratches easily • We would like to work to find a material to replace the industry standard
Tough Thinking • Ceramics are a strong material that have already proven to be hydrophobic • MIT has done research with rare-earth metals to prove this • From powder oxides of the Lanthanide Series • Heat to near melting point and bond together • Tough and very naturally hydrophobic • http://www.technologyreview.com/article/513191/hydrophobics-get-tough/ • BUT are they as hydrophobic as standard ski bases with wax?
Goal • Complete a comparative study between the two materials based on contact angle of water on surface
What is contact angle? • Where a liquid/vapor interface meets a solid surface • Young’s equation • Solid-Vapor, Solid-Liquid, Liquid-Vapor interfacial energy • The more hydrophobic, the greater the contact angle
Method Using a Goniometer -Finds the contact angle between the liquid and solid by using advanced cameras * capture the drop shape * send it to software which will analyze the shape and find the angle. *Then the centrifugal adhesion balance can relate the contact angle to the hydrophobic properties of the surface.
Data (Ceria) Ce – Contact Angle: 102.3° ± 2° Going to contact MIT for further data
Data to Collect • Ski base (UHMWPE) • Coated with various ski waxes intended for different temperatures
Additional Articles • http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/16625/55871896.pdf • http://arxiv.org/pdf/1304.1485.pdf • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceramic_engineering • http://www.iran-daily.com/1391/11/9/MainPaper/4434/Page/8/MainPaper_4434_8.pdf • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_angle