Perumanath, Sreehari, Pillai, Rohit and Borg, Matthew K. (2023) Contaminant removal from nature’s self-cleaning surfaces. Nano Letters, 23 (10). pp. 4234-4241. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00257 ISSN 1530-6984.
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Abstract
Many organisms in nature have evolved superhydrophobic surfaces that leverage water droplets to clean themselves. While this ubiquitous self-cleaning process has substantial industrial promise, experiments have so far been unable to comprehend the underlying physics. With the aid of molecular simulations, here we rationalize and theoretically explain self-cleaning mechanisms by resolving the complex interplay between particle–droplet and particle–surface interactions, which originate at the nanoscale. We present a universal phase diagram that consolidates (a) observations from previous surface self-cleaning experiments conducted at micro-to-millimeter length scales and (b) our nanoscale particle–droplet simulations. Counterintuitively, our analysis shows that an upper limit for the radius of the droplet exists to remove contaminants of a particular size. We are now able to predict when and how particles of varying scale (from nano-to-micrometer) and adhesive strengths are removed from superhydrophobic surfaces.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QD Chemistry |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Mathematics |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Surface chemistry, Cicadas, Hydrophobic surfaces, Drops, Nanoparticles |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Nano Letters |
| Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
| ISSN: | 1530-6984 |
| Official Date: | 24 May 2023 |
| Dates: | Date Event 24 May 2023 Published 8 May 2023 Available 27 April 2023 Accepted |
| Volume: | 23 |
| Number: | 10 |
| Page Range: | pp. 4234-4241 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c00257 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons open licence) |
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 12 June 2023 |
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 13 June 2023 |
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: | Project/Grant ID RIOXX Funder Name Funder ID EP/ R007438/1 [EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/V012002/1 [EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/N016602/1 [EPSRC] Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/176476/ |
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