Abstract
In this review, we present a framework to guide the design of surfaces which are resistant to solid fouling, based on the modulus and length scale of the fouling material. Solid fouling is defined as the undesired attachment of solid contaminants including ice, clathrates, waxes, inorganic scale, polymers, proteins, dust and biological materials. We first provide an overview of the surface design approaches typically applied across the scope of solid fouling and explain how these disparate research efforts can be united to an extent under a single framework. We discuss how the elastic modulus and the operating length scale of a foulant determine its ability or inability to elastically deform surfaces. When surface deformation occurs, minimization of the substrate elastic modulus is critical for the facile de-bonding of a solid contaminant. Foulants with low modulus or small deposition sizes cannot deform an elastic bulk material and instead de-bond more readily from surfaces with chemistries that minimize their interfacial free energy or induce a particular repellant interaction with the foulant. Overall, we review reported surface design strategies for the reduction in solid fouling, and provide perspective regarding how our framework, together with the modulus and length scale of a foulant, can guide future antifouling surface designs. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology'.
Highlights
The undesired adhesion of solid contaminants to a surface, when the adhering material damages the desired properties of that surface, can be labelled as solid fouling
We present a framework to guide the design of surfaces which are resistant to solid fouling, based on the modulus and length scale of the fouling material
Low-energy surfaces such as polyvinylidene fluoride, poly(vinylidene fluoride)-chlorotrifluoroethylene and a methyl acrylatestyrene copolymer were tested and compared with higher surface energy polyurethane and epoxy surfaces. They demonstrated a decrease in paraffin deposition with decreasing surface energy of the coating
Summary
The undesired adhesion of solid contaminants to a surface, when the adhering material damages the desired properties of that surface, can be labelled as solid fouling. When considering a broad list of potential foulants, it becomes clear that only foulants with sufficiently high intrinsic modulus will be able to cause the deformation of a plausible range of surface materials and de-bond via this mechanism In these cases, the minimization of the elastic modulus of a surface will have a significant, and often dominating, effect on foulant adhesion. The larger the degree of deformation of the surface, the more its elastic strain energy will contribute to the equilibrium barrier for fracture of the interface [21] In these cases, the reduction in the surface modulus will have a dominant effect on minimizing the adhesion strength of the foulant, because the surface modulus can be tuned over many more orders of magnitude than the work of adhesion, which is controlled by chemical functionalization. Discussion centres around the ways these designer surfaces fit into the framework presented in figure 2, as well as how this framework can guide the future of low adhesion surface design
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