Electrokinetic aspects of water filtration by AlOOH-coated siliceous particles with nanoscale roughness

Abstract

The vast majority of analytical and numerical models developed to explain pressure-driven electrokinetic phenomena assume that the local electrical double layer field over heterogenious surfaces is independent of the flow field and described by the Poison-Boltzman equation. However, for pressure-driven flow over a surface with heterogeneous patches with combined microscale and nanoscale structures the local electrical double layer fields are different above the patch and in the region between the patches. The nonuniform surface charge produces distortions in the equilibrium electrostatic field. The characteristic symptom of field distortion is the generation of flow velocities in all three coordinate directions, including a circulation pattern perpendicular to the main flow axis therefore severely distorting the Poisson-Boltzmann double layer.<em> </em>The result is an exceptionally high microbes and ions removal efficiencies from aqueous suspension by the alumina’s surfaces with combined microscale and nanoscale structures that strongly suggests existence of a coupling effect of the local electrical double layer (EDL) field with the local flow field.