Liquid flow reversibly creates a macroscopic surface charge gradient

The charging and dissolution of mineral surfaces in contact with flowing liquids are ubiquitous in nature, as most minerals in water spontaneously acquire charge and dissolve. Mineral dissolution has been studied extensively under equilibrium conditions, even though non-equilibrium phenomena are per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2021-07, Vol.12 (1), p.4102-4102, Article 4102
Main Authors: Ober, Patrick, Boon, Willem Q., Dijkstra, Marjolein, Backus, Ellen H. G., van Roij, René, Bonn, Mischa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Advection
Calcium
Calcium fluoride
Charging
Computational fluid dynamics
Dissolution
Equilibrium conditions
Fluorides
Groundwater
Groundwater flow
Humanities and Social Sciences
Liquid flow
Liquids
Microfluidics
Minerals
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Surface charge
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Summary:The charging and dissolution of mineral surfaces in contact with flowing liquids are ubiquitous in nature, as most minerals in water spontaneously acquire charge and dissolve. Mineral dissolution has been studied extensively under equilibrium conditions, even though non-equilibrium phenomena are pervasive and substantially affect the mineral-water interface. Here we demonstrate using interface-specific spectroscopy that liquid flow along a calcium fluoride surface creates a reversible spatial charge gradient, with decreasing surface charge downstream of the flow. The surface charge gradient can be quantitatively accounted for by a reaction-diffusion-advection model, which reveals that the charge gradient results from a delicate interplay between diffusion, advection, dissolution, and desorption/adsorption. The underlying mechanism is expected to be valid for a wide variety of systems, including groundwater flows in nature and microfluidic systems. Reactions at the interface between mineral surfaces and flowing liquids are ubiquitous in nature. Here the authors explore, using surface-specific sum frequency generation spectroscopy and numeric calculations, how the liquid flow affects the charging and dissolution rates leading to flow-dependent charge gradients along the surface.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-24270-x