Anisotropic Spiky Colloids for Antifouling Surfaces

Authors

Mackenzie Williams

Files

Description

Fouling is the accumulation of contaminants on a surface. Fouling reduces surface efficiency and can cause contamination, impacting several industries such as medical, maritime, and space. Our approach uses the assembly of anisotropic spiky colloids to fabricate antifouling surfaces to repel fouling materials. The main objective of the project is to characterize the adsorption of anisotropic spiky colloids of differing spike size and distribution over a planar surface to generate rough antifouling surfaces. We simulate the irreversible particle deposition using the Random Sequential Adsorption (RSA) algorithm, in which particles are randomly adsorbed onto the surface. The algorithm accepts the randomly positioned and oriented particle over the surface if the particle does not overlap with previous ones; after that, the particle remains fixed for the duration of the simulation. Simulation results show that the maximum number of adsorbed particles decreases as the particle aspect ratio increases, while the number of adsorbed particles decreases as the shape parameter of superellipsoids increases. Furthermore, the average roughness increases as the spike shape parameter increases, but the particle-particle separation decreases. Our investigation of these structures will allow the future development of anti-fouling surfaces for multi-scale inserts.

Program

Research and Creative Experience for Undergraduates (RCEU)

Department

Chemical and Materials Engineering

College Name

College of Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Isaac Torres-Díaz

Publication Date

9-1-2023

Document Type

Poster

Keywords

colloidal science, antifouling, random sequential adsorption, structures

Recommended Citation

Williams, Mackenzie, "Anisotropic Spiky Colloids for Antifouling Surfaces" (2023). Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs). 441.
https://louis.uah.edu/rceu-hcr/441