Tiny particles of liquid move quickly across thin layers of carbon by 'surfing' waves that ripple through the sheets.

Angelos Michaelides at University College London and his colleagues used computer simulations to investigate how liquids move across graphene — a layer of carbon one atom thick. Graphene has wave-like ripples that transport nanometre-scale droplets of water and oil, and even ice particles. This happens because the particles are attracted to the high density of carbon atoms in the wave trough. These nanodroplets move much more quickly on flexible layers of material such as graphene than on rigid materials like metal.

If validated by experiments, this mechanism could be used to control the delivery of water-soluble drugs on surfaces coated with a layered material, the authors say.

Nature Mater. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat4449 (2015)