TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of flow regime on the performance of anti-biofouling coatings
AU - Pulletikurthi, Venkatesh
AU - Esquivel-Puentes, Helber Antonio
AU - Cheng, Shyuan
AU - Chamorro, Leonardo P.
AU - Castillo, Luciano
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Biofouling poses significant challenges for marine transportation due to increased skin drag, which results in increased fuel cost and associated CO 2 emissions. Current antifouling methods involving polymer coating, biocides, and self-depleting layers harm marine ecosystems and contribute to marine pollution. Significant advancements have resulted in using bioinspired coatings to address this issue. However, prior investigations have predominantly focused on wettability and adhesion aspects, resulting in a limited understanding of the impact of flow regime on bioinspired structure patterns for antifouling. We conducted comprehensive experiments with two bioinspired coatings 1 under laminar and turbulent flow regimes and compared them with a smooth surface. The two coatings are composed of regular arrangements of micropillars measuring 85 μm in height and spaced at 180 μm (pattern A) and 50 μm high micropillars spaced at 220 μm (pattern B). Theoretical arguments indicate that wall-normal velocity fluctuations near the micropillars’ top significantly contribute to reducing the onset of biofouling under turbulence compared to the smooth surface. Pattern A coating can effectively decrease biofouling by 90% for fouling sizes exceeding 80 microns when compared to a smooth surface subjected to a turbulent flow regime. The coatings exhibited comparable anti-biofouling properties under a laminar flow. Also, the smooth surface experienced substantially higher biofouling under laminar flow compared to turbulent conditions. This underscores how the effectiveness of anti-biofouling approaches is critically influenced by the flow regime.
AB - Biofouling poses significant challenges for marine transportation due to increased skin drag, which results in increased fuel cost and associated CO 2 emissions. Current antifouling methods involving polymer coating, biocides, and self-depleting layers harm marine ecosystems and contribute to marine pollution. Significant advancements have resulted in using bioinspired coatings to address this issue. However, prior investigations have predominantly focused on wettability and adhesion aspects, resulting in a limited understanding of the impact of flow regime on bioinspired structure patterns for antifouling. We conducted comprehensive experiments with two bioinspired coatings 1 under laminar and turbulent flow regimes and compared them with a smooth surface. The two coatings are composed of regular arrangements of micropillars measuring 85 μm in height and spaced at 180 μm (pattern A) and 50 μm high micropillars spaced at 220 μm (pattern B). Theoretical arguments indicate that wall-normal velocity fluctuations near the micropillars’ top significantly contribute to reducing the onset of biofouling under turbulence compared to the smooth surface. Pattern A coating can effectively decrease biofouling by 90% for fouling sizes exceeding 80 microns when compared to a smooth surface subjected to a turbulent flow regime. The coatings exhibited comparable anti-biofouling properties under a laminar flow. Also, the smooth surface experienced substantially higher biofouling under laminar flow compared to turbulent conditions. This underscores how the effectiveness of anti-biofouling approaches is critically influenced by the flow regime.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-023-36736-7
DO - 10.1038/s41598-023-36736-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 37308518
AN - SCOPUS:85161891692
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 13
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
IS - 1
M1 - 9501
ER -