Time dependence of effective slip on textured hydrophobic surfaces

Govardhan, RN and Srinivas, GS and Asthana, A and Bobji, MS (2009) Time dependence of effective slip on textured hydrophobic surfaces. In: Physics of Fluids, 21 (5).

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Abstract

In this paper, we present results on water flow past randomly textured hydrophobic surfaces with relatively large surface features of the order of 50 µm. Direct shear stress measurements are made on these surfaces in a channel configuration. The measurements indicate that the flow rates required to maintain a shear stress value vary substantially with water immersion time. At small times after filling the channel with water, the flow rates are up to 30% higher compared with the reference hydrophilic surface. With time, the flow rate gradually decreases and in a few hours reaches a value that is nearly the same as the hydrophilic case. Calculations of the effective slip lengths indicate that it varies from about 50 µm at small times to nearly zero or “no slip” after a few hours. Large effective slip lengths on such hydrophobic surfaces are known to be caused by trapped air pockets in the crevices of the surface. In order to understand the time dependent effective slip length, direct visualization of trapped air pockets is made in stationary water using the principle of total internal reflection of light at the water-air interface of the air pockets. These visualizations indicate that the number of bright spots corresponding to the air pockets decreases with time. This type of gradual disappearance of the trapped air pockets is possibly the reason for the decrease in effective slip length with time in the flow experiments. From the practical point of usage of such surfaces to reduce pressure drop, say, in microchannels, this time scale of the order of 1 h for the reduction in slip length would be very crucial. It would ultimately decide the time over which the surface can usefully provide pressure drop reductions. ©2009 American Institute of Physics

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physics of Fluids
Publisher:	American Institute of Physics
Additional Information:	Coyright of this article belongs to American Institute of Physics.
Keywords:	external flows; microchannel flow; slip flow
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering
Date Deposited:	11 Dec 2009 11:59
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:35
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20983

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