Precipitation of mineral deposits on the surface of domestic and industrial installations is a persistent issue, calculated to have an estimated economic cost of 0.2% of global GDP. The most common treatments employed to control mineral scaling generally involve the use of chemicals or a nano-filtration system. The former solution is economically viable, however has a significant environmental footprint. The latter suffers from the need for high energy consumption coupled with limited efficiency with monovalent ions.
The project brings together expertise in nanotechnology and surface engineering to deploy novel, environmentally-friendly antifouling materials to effectively mitigate mineral build-ups. This will be achieved through two strands of research focus. Firstly, prevention of mineral surface crystallization process, and secondly, if fouling has already occurred, minimizing the adhesion strength of the fouling layer to the substrate to facilitate easy detachment and cleaning. This alternative approach has been deployed successfully in the control of bio-fouling (e.g. paint preventing growth of subaquatic organisms on ships) but as yet remains an entirely new approach for mineral scale prevention.
The project focuses on nano engineering a new class of bioinspired materials in tandem with using cutting-edge analytic tools to characterise the surfaces. Finally, a comprehensive assessment of their antifouling performance will be sought. Liquid infused surfaces - constitute a novel class of material where a lubricant (typically an ionic liquid) is held in place in a nano porous substrate by capillary forces. This creates a self-healing, fouling repellent surface. These surfaces prevent mineral build-up by virtue of their low surface energy coupled with an interface which is defect free, down to the molecular scale. Recent studies from Leeds demonstrate that such surfaces are showing great potential in the laboratory environment. The key goal will be the fabrication of a nano porous substrate using industrially relevant materials. The viability of various techniques (e.g. electrochemical etching, anodic oxidization) will also be evaluated and the topography of the surfaces (pore size, density) will be optimized to maximise retention of the lubricants. Surfaces stability - will be evaluated under a range of realistic environments including high pressure and temperature conditions. Additionally computational tools will assess the stability of the liquid infused surfaces under flowing conditions (flow entrainment, wetting characteristics). Antifouling evaluation will be performed for a range of realistic scaling conditions (e.g. carbonate, sulphate). This will be achieved by using bespoke experimental rigs such as a modified rotating cylinder electrode and tube blocking rig.
My interests are to improve my knowledge and understanding of biofuels and how they can be used to reduce carbon emissions. I am also interested in nanotechnology, and how the use of particles on a small scale can be manipulated to have significant impacts on industrial applications.
Professor Neville is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and has extensive experience of training postgraduates in both PhDs (85 completed to date) and MSc taught courses (MSc Oilfield Corrosion). She is an internationally known lead researcher in the area of functional surfaces and smart materials. She has a strong track record in securing funding (total of £22m of which £16m as a principal investigator) from national research councils and industries. She holds five patents, and has published over 370 papers in journals and conference proceedings.
Dr Hassanpour leads the Complex Systems and Processes research group at Leeds. His research is mainly focused on the characterisation of single particle properties and analysis of particles’ collective properties and behaviours using multi-scale modelling approaches such as Discrete Element Modelling (DEM). His research is supported by Innovate UK, EU, EPSRC and industry. Ali has more than 100 publications.
Dr Richard Barker is an Associate Professor in Corrosion Science and Engineering within the Institute of Functional Surfaces at the School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Leeds. He currently has over 10 years of experience working in the field of corrosion, graduating with a PhD from the University of Leeds in 2013.