Affiliation:
1. Laboratory for Multiphase Thermofluidics and Surface Nanoengineering Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering ETH Zurich Sonneggstrasse 3 Zurich CH‐8092 Switzerland
2. Laboratory for Mechanics of Materials and Nanostructures Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Feuerwerkerstrasse 39 Thun CH‐3602 Switzerland
3. Department of Mechanical Engineering University of California Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Abstract
AbstractNucleation and growth of calcium carbonate on surfaces is of broad importance in nature and technology, being essential to the calcification of organisms, while negatively impacting energy conversion through crystallization fouling, also called scale formation. Previous work studied how confinements, surface energies, and functionalizations affect nucleation and polymorph formation, with surface‐water interactions and ion mobility playing important roles. However, the influence of surface nanostructures with nanocurvature—through pit and bump morphologies—on scale formation is unknown, limiting the development of scalephobic surfaces. Here, it is shown that nanoengineered surfaces enhance the nucleation rate by orders of magnitude, despite expected inhibition through effects like induced lattice strain through surface nanocurvature. Interfacial and holographic microscopy is used to quantify crystallite growth and find that nanoengineered interfaces experience slower individual growth rates while collectively the surface has 18% more deposited mass. Reconstructions through nanoscale cross‐section imaging of surfaces coupled with classical nucleation theory—utilizing local nanocurvature effects—show the collective enhancement of nano‐pits.
Funder
H2020 European Research Council