Greer, A. , Moodie, D., Kerr, G. and Gadegaard, N. (2020) Sol-gel coatings for subaquatic self-cleaning windows. Crystals, 10(5), 375. (doi: 10.3390/cryst10050375)
|
Text
213044.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 1MB |
Abstract
Self-cleaning windows are well known for their ability to function with airborne pollutants, but there is a growing industry for semi-permanent subaquatic optical devices, where the performance of such windows should be considered. Here sol-gel technology is explored as a means of producing self-cleaning, subaquatic, sapphire windows. We demonstrate removal of marine bacteria and, in the worst-case contamination scenario, dead North Sea crude oil (API 35). This greasy contaminant was smeared across the windows to effectively reduce optical transmission strength to just 54%. The titania-based sol-gel-coated windows can restore transmission to within 10% of the clean value in less than one day, unlike standard sapphire windows, which lose 68% transmission following contamination and aquatic submergence over the same duration. A range of theories to enhance the self-cleaning performance of the sol-gel coating were explored, but none of the tested variables were able to provide any enhancement for subaquatic performance.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding: The authors would like to acknowledge the funding provided by FMC Technologies Inc to carry out this research. AIMG was funded by EPSRC (EP/P505534/1) 63677. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Kerr, Dr Graham and Greer, Dr Andrew and Gadegaard, Professor Nikolaj |
| Creator Roles: | Gadegaard, N.Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Resources, Writing – review and editing, Supervision, Project administration Kerr, G.Conceptualization, Resources, Project administration, Funding acquisition Greer, A.Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Visualization |
| Authors: | Greer, A., Moodie, D., Kerr, G., and Gadegaard, N. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering |
| Journal Name: | Crystals |
| Publisher: | MDPI |
| ISSN: | 2073-4352 |
| ISSN (Online): | 2073-4352 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2020 by the authors |
| First Published: | First published in Crystals 10(5):375 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence |
University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record
Funder and Project Information
Funder and Project Information