Self-Cleaning Surfaces: A Third-Year Undergraduate Research Project

Superhydrophobic (non water-wettable) surfaces can possess the ability to self-clean (the so-called "lotus effect"). The task of devising the apparatus and method for quantifying this self-cleaning effect was offered as a project in a third-year undergraduate laboratory course. Using commo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of chemical education 2009-03, Vol.86 (3), p.365
Main Authors: Haines, Ronald S, Wu, Alex H. F, Zhang, Hua, Coffey, Jacob, Huddle, Thomas, Lafountaine, Justin S, Lim, Zhi-Jun, White, Eugene A, Tuong, Nam T, Lamb, Robert N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Ball bearings
Chemistry
Cleaning
Coatings
College Science
Contact angle
Contaminants
Experiments
Foreign Countries
Hands on Science
Hydrophobicity
Laboratory Experiments
Measurement
Physics
Research Projects
Sanitation
Science education
Science Instruction
Scientific apparatus & instruments
Student Research
Surface chemistry
Tricalcium aluminate
Undergraduate Students
Water
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Summary:Superhydrophobic (non water-wettable) surfaces can possess the ability to self-clean (the so-called "lotus effect"). The task of devising the apparatus and method for quantifying this self-cleaning effect was offered as a project in a third-year undergraduate laboratory course. Using commonly available equipment the students devised a protocol for measuring the self-cleaning ability of surfaces and related this to the contact angle and hysteresis of the surfaces. As well as gaining experience with measuring surface properties the students developed professional skills as they planned, carried out, and presented their research. The project is open-ended and adaptable to suit available equipment and surfaces.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/ed086p365