Environmental dust repelling from hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces under vibrational excitation

Abstract

Mitigation of environmental dust from surfaces becomes one of the challenges for maintaining the optical characteristics of surfaces. Dust repelling from hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces under vibrational excitation is investigated and the percentage of dust repelled from surfaces is evaluated. The characteristics of the dust particles are examined and dust adhesion on surfaces under molecular forces (van der Walls) is explored. High speed recording system is utilized to monitor dust repelling from the surfaces. The dust residues, which are not repelled from the sample surfaces, are analyzed and the percentage of area coverage of the dust repelled from the surfaces is assessed. The repelling height of the dust is predicted analytically, and the findings are compared with the experimental data. Findings revealed that the analytical predictions of dust repelling height are in good agreement with the experimental data. Due to none-stoichiometric elemental compositions in the dust compounds, ionic forces are created while forming the cluster-like structures because of particle adhesion. The vibrational excitation repels dust from sample surfaces in the form of cluster-like structures. Dust repelled from hydrophobic surface results in a larger clean area on the hydrophobic surface (80% of total surface area) than that of the hydrophilic surface (20% of total surface area).