Hydrophobic and SLIPS Sediments

My PhD thesis investigates the role of interface physics on the slipperiness of glacier beds. I used droplet contact angle and sliding angle experiments to constrain the effects of hydrophobicity and slippery liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) on droplet behaviour. I then performed geochemical analyses of surficial sediments from Alberta to determine the extent of glacially mobilized oils and potential SLIPS conditions during the Laurentide Ice Sheet glaciation. This research has produced the first example of a sediment SLIPS and how they might form at the bed of glaciers through hydrocarbon incorporation. Hydrophobicity and SLIPS in sediments also has applications in a wide range of  disciplines including soil mechanics and geomorphology.

McCerery et al. (2025) Super Slippery Surface Concepts: A novel explanation for the dynamics and flow instability of glaciers and ice sheets

McCerery et al. (2024) Geochemical evidence for Alberta Oil Sands contamination in sediments remote to known oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada

McCerery et al. (2023) Oil sands in glacial till as a driver of fast flow and instability in the former Laurentide Ice Sheet: Alberta, Canada

McCerery et al. (2021) Slippery liquid‐infused porous surfaces: The effect of oil on the water repellence of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic soils

Thesis: Oil initiation of super slippery surfaces in sediments: a driver of instability in glacial systems

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