{"id":778,"date":"2017-05-23T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T09:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/?p=778"},"modified":"2017-12-01T13:21:22","modified_gmt":"2017-12-01T13:21:22","slug":"surfactants-limit-drag-reduction-superhydrophobic-surfaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/surfactants-limit-drag-reduction-superhydrophobic-surfaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Traces of surfactants can severely limit the drag reduction of superhydrophobic surfaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bio-inspired surfaces for energy efficient maritime transport, provided surfactant molecules are not in the way\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers at The University of Manchester, the University of Cambridge and the University of California Santa Barbara have recently shown that surfactants can strongly impact the drag reduction potential of bio-inspired superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs).<\/p>\n

Over the last 20 years, scientists have tried to cover the external surface of ships, submarines or the internal surface of pipelines with SHSs which could decrease their drag, thus considerably reducing the energy used in maritime transport or pipe flows. However, laboratory experiments conducted in the past ten years have shown inconsistent results, with many studies reporting significantly decreased performance compared with theoretical and numerical predictions.<\/p>\n

This study reveals that surfactants, molecules naturally present in our environment, are the most likely cause for the reduced performance of SHSs, due to a phenomenon known as Marangoni forces. This was found after two years of intensive research, using careful experimentation with confocal microscopy, numerical simulations and mathematical modelling. As even minute concentrations of surfactants can severely reduce the SHS performance, the impact of this discovery is important for many applications and could guide future design of SHSs.<\/p>\n

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