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Surfactants have the ability to mobilize residual oil trapped in pore spaces of matrix rocks by lowering the oil–water interfacial tension, resulting in a higher oil recovery. However, the loss of surfactants by adsorption onto the rock surface has become a major concern that reduces the efficiency of the surfactant flooding process. In this study, the adsorption behavior of an anionic surfactant to a clay mineral surface was investigated by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring upon variations with different cation conditions. Through recording the change of frequency and dissipation of clay-modified sensors, it allows us to do a real-time quantitative analysis of the surfactant adsorption with nanogram sensitivity. The results revealed that the surfactant adsorption increased in a Ca2+-containing solution with increasing pH from 6 to 11, whereas from a Na+-containing solution, more adsorption occurred at acidic conditions. The adsorbed amount went through a maximum (∼200 mM) as a function of the Ca2+concentration, and the Voigt model suggested that multilayer adsorption of surfactants could be as many as 4–6 monolayers. Using mixed cation (Ca2+and Na+) solutions, the amount of adsorbed surfactant decreased linearly with decreasing fraction of CaCl2, but Na+competed for about ∼30% adsorption sites. The importance of the presence of CaCl2for the surfactant adsorption was stressed in high-salinity and low-salinity solutions in the presence and absence of Ca2+. Furthermore, increasing the temperature from 23 to 65 °C shows first a small increase of surfactant adsorption followed by a reduction of about 20%. The obtained results contribute to a better understanding of surfactant adsorption on clay surfaces and a guide to optimal flooding conditions with reduced surfactant loss.

Unfortunately, the above article [1] was published with some typos in equations, generated during the last edition steps. The equations with typos are listed along with their corrected version.

The surface topography of implantable devices is of crucial importance for guiding the cascade of events that starts from the initial contact of the cells with the surface and continues until the complete integration of the device in its immediate environment. There is, however, limited quantitative information available regarding the relationships between the different stages of such cascade(s) and how the design of surface topography influences them. We, therefore, used direct laser writing to 3D-print submicron pillars with precisely controlled dimensions and spatial arrangements to perform a systematic study of such relationships. Using single-cell force spectroscopy, we measured the adhesion force and the work of adhesion of the preosteoblast cells residing on the different types of surfaces. Not only the adhesion parameters (after 2–60 s) but also the formation of focal adhesions was strongly dependent on the geometry and arrangement of the pillars: sufficiently tall and dense pillars enhanced both adhesion parameters and the formation of focal adhesions. Our morphological study of the cells (after 24 h) showed that those enhancements were associated with a specific way of cell settlement onto the surface (i.e., “top state”). The cells interacting with tall and dense pillars were also characterized by numerous thick actin stress fibers in the perinuclear region and possibly high internal stresses. Furthermore, living cells with highly organized cytoskeletal networks exhibited greater values of the elastic modulus. The early responses of the cells predicted their late response including matrix mineralization: tall and dense submicron pillars significantly upregulated the expression of osteopontin after 21 days of culture under both osteogenic and nonosteogenic conditions. Our findings paint a detailed picture of at least one possible cascade of events that starts from initial cell adhesion and continues to subsequent cellular functions and eventual matrix mineralization. These observations could inform the future developments of instructive surfaces for medical devices based on physical surface cues and early markers.