The discovery of a viral envelope doubles the speed of boiling water

The researchers have found a way to bring water to a boil more quickly, but they note that the discovery is unlikely to revolutionize tea making, as it is intended for more complex uses. 

This new technology works by coating the heating element (the crucible in which water is heated) with a virus present in the tobacco plant, and this coating in turn dramatically reduces the size and number of bubbles that form.  around the element as it heats up. , as the resulting air pockets Bubbles that form temporarily insulate the heating elements from the surrounding water, slowing the transfer of heat to the water.

According to scientists, the blanket made of tobacco virus increases the efficiency of boiling water up to three times, which can save a large amount of energy in industrial power plants or electronic cooling systems. 

Controlling bubble formation can also help protect against a scenario called "critical heat flow", which is an undesirable - and sometimes catastrophic - scenario in industrial boilers, as it occurs when excessive bubbles form in the boiler and begin to merge in the boiler.  The liner surrounds the heating element, which prevents heat from transferring into the water.

According to Matthew McCarthy, an engineer at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, what happens next is that the dry surface gets progressively hotter, much like placing a pan without water on the stove, because this breakdown will cause the electronics to break down, or Ways to Cool Plants Until McCarthy's team identified the tobacco mosaic virus, scientists were trying to develop surfaces that prevent bubbles from forming and keep the surface of the heating element moist.

The team developed a genetically engineered strain of the virus to have "molecular hooks" that would allow it to stick to almost any surface. The researchers grew tobacco plants in the lab and infected them with the modified tobacco mosaic virus. When the plants became very sick, they were put in a blender to make a green solution.Centrifuges and chemical separations, which take about two days of work, scientists get a clear solution of concentrated viruses, and when these viruses are poured on the surface, the viruses self-assemble to form a layer of nanodendrites, rising like weeds. 

The surface is then covered with a thin microscopic layer of nickel to surround the inactivated viruses; This causes Metal Grass to hold liquids to the surface and allow water and the heating element to stay in contact. 

In tests the researchers performed on the material, it was found that the metal virus shell more than tripled the rate of heat transfer from the surface of the heating element to the water, depending on the heating element used, which means that if two containers of water are placed - one coated with the virus and the other uncoated - and heated to the same temperature, the container coated with the virus produces twice as much vapor water. 

Fin McCarthy points out that in the future, this blanket could be used in nuclear power plants, or to cool liquids in high-energy electronic devices such as radar systems.