The process of crystallization fouling is a phenomenon where scale forms on surfaces. It is widespread in nature and technology and affects the energy and water industries. Despite previous attempts, rationally designed surfaces with intrinsic resistance remain elusive due to a lack of understanding of how microfoulants adhere in dynamic aqueous environments.
Water and energy are interconnected resources, where water is required to produce energy for transport, desalination, and water treatment. The finite nature of these resources and growing global challenges including climate change and population growth, however, place them under increased stress. Passive methods to repel scale formation include surface engineering, interfacial materials, and coatings, which are attractive alternatives for sustainability and are also cost-efficient.
Researchers had also previously focused on developing rigid antifouling surfaces that alter the surface energy of materials to eliminate fouling. Materials scientists have shown a growing interest in the development of interfacial materials and coatings that improve antifouling properties using the material’s inherent barriers.
In this new work, Schmid and colleagues developed a new method to study the physics of microfoulant adhesion and created a micro-scanning fluid dynamic gauge. The scientists revealed three underlying mechanisms of microfoulant removal to design a microtextured coating and tested its scalability under laminar and turbulent flow conditions. The outcome can shed light on properties of crystallization and particulate fouling, and lead to the design of interfacial materials as antifouling surfaces to address the challenges of the water–energy nexus.
Nature features exceptional examples of super-wettability and transport systems that have contributed to the development of bioinspired repellant substrates for the investigation of the dynamics of crystallite-water interactions. Schmid and colleagues quantified the microfoulant removal from substrates with varying compliance by determining their surface wettability. For instance, to remove calcium carbonate crystallites, the team used a tunable laminar water shear flow and simultaneously visualized the process by pumping water through a glass capillary to generate shear stress.
2024-01-07 05:00:04
Post from phys.org rnrn