I have splendid news to conclude this weekend's blogging. Our paper "Surface pinning explains the low heat transfer coefficient 
between water and a carbon nanotube film" was accepted for publication in Carbon a few days ago. The paper is about a very peculiar phenomenon observed by Betty: the heat transfer coefficient between carboxy-functionalied MWCNT buckypaper and a sessile water droplet is less than half of that between unfunctionalized MWCNT buckypaper and water. This is a major surprise at first glance because intuition suggests that the more hydrophilic buckypaper should be the better performer. We were able to explain the phenomenon on the basis of the layered structure of buckypaper and the localization of the droplet on the top of the buckypaper. 

Last December was a fruitful month for papers. Three papers written by collaborators of our group were accepted for publication:

• Development of Ibuprofen-loaded nanostructured lipid carrier based-gels: characterization and investigation of in vitro and in vivo penetration through the skin, International Journal of Nanomedicine (2016) accepted for publication
• Mesoporous carbon supported Pd nanoparticles with high specific surface area for cyclohexene hydrogenation; Outstanding catalytic activity of NaOH treated catalysts, Surface Science (2016), accepted for publication
• Mn(II)-amino acid complexes intercalated in CaAl-layered double hydroxide - well-characterized, highly efficient, recyclable oxidation catalysts, J. Catal. (2016) accepted for publication

I'd like to thank all co-authors for these nice works and look forward to seeing them in print. Let's keep up the good work!

Dear Readers, this entry is to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016! I hope that you'll keep checking this blog for updates and I also hope that I'll be able to provide you with interesting updates – it's gonna be a team effort, really :)

First trivia for the new year: did you know that 2016 is the Official, Dedicated Year of Pulses? Bet you didn't :) Check out the homepage, eat healthy, read good books and stay tuned for science news! Happy New Year!