Affiliation:
1. Nanoengineered Systems Laboratory UCL Mechanical Engineering University College London London WC1E 7JE UK
2. Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences University College London London W1W 7TS UK
3. Department of Chemistry University College London 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK
Abstract
AbstractUnwanted accumulation of ice and lime scale crystals on surfaces is a long‐standing challenge with major economic and sustainability implications. Passive inhibition of icing and scaling by liquid‐repellent surfaces are often inadequate, susceptible to surface failure under harsh conditions, and unsuitable for long‐term/real‐life usages. Such surfaces often require a multiplicity of additional features such as optical transparency, robust impact resistance, and ability to prevent contamination from low surface energy liquids. Unfortunately, most promising advances have relied on using perfluoro compounds, which are bio‐persistent and/or highly toxic. Here it is shown that organic, reticular mesoporous structures, covalent organic frameworks (COFs), may offer a solution. By exploiting simple and scalable synthesis of defect‐free COFs and rational post‐synthetic functionalization, nanocoatings with precision nanoporosity (morphology) are prepared that can inhibit nucleation at the molecular level without compromising the related contamination prevention and robustness. The results offer a simple strategy to exploit the nanoconfinement effect, which remarkably delays the nucleation of ice and scale formation on surfaces. Ice nucleation is suppressed down to −28 °C, scale formation is avoided for >2 weeks in supersaturated conditions, and jets of organic solvents impacting at Weber numbers >105 are resisted with surfaces that also offer optical transparency (>92%).
Funder
European Research Council
Subject
Mechanical Engineering,Mechanics of Materials,General Materials Science
Cited by
1 articles.
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