Abstract
Surface wettability plays a significant role in reducing solid-liquid frictional resistance, especially the superhydrophilic/hydrophilic interface because of its excellent thermodynamic stability. In this work, poly(acrylic acid)-poly(acrylamide) (PAA–PAM) hydrogel coatings with different thicknesses were prepared in situ by polydopamine (PDA)-UV assisted surface catalytically initiated radical polymerization. Fluid drag reduction performance of hydrogel surface was measured using a rotational rheometer by the plate-plate mode. The experimental results showed that the average drag reduction of hydrogel surface could reach up to about 56% in Couette flow, which was mainly due to the interfacial polymerization phenomenon that enhanced the ability of hydration layer to delay the momentum dissipation between fluid layers and the diffusion behavior of surface. The proposed drag reduction mechanism of hydrogel surface was expected to shed new light on hydrogel-liquid interface interaction and provide a new way for the development of steady-state drag reduction methods.
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This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51905519, 22032006, U2030201, and U21A2046).
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The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. The author Feng ZHOU is the Editorial Board Member of this journal.
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Xiaotong WU. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in Nanchang University, and is studying for his Ph.D. degree at Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Nanchang University. His current research interests mainly focus on interface behavior of soft matter materials.
Ying LIU. She received her Ph.D. degree from Wuhan University of Technology in 2003. She is a full-time professor at the School of Advanced Manufacturing, Nanchang University, and a specially invited consultant of National Key Laboratory of High-end Equipment Interface Science and Technology Advisory Expert Committee. She has published more than 190 journal papers and authorized 8 invention patents. She serves on the editorial board of Journal of Tribology and Surface Technology. Her research interests mainly include bionic tribology, surface interface behavior and control, and numerical calculation of complex fluids.
Wufang YANG. He received his Ph.D. degree from LICP, CAS, in 2018. Then, he joined the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication in LICP and currently is an associate professor. He has published more than 30 papers in Chem. Eng. J., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Langmuir, and Green Chem., et al. He has applied for 15 patents and 12 of them have been authorized. His research interests include bionic interface construction, interface microbial fouling suppression, and fluid drag reduction.
Feng ZHOU. He is a professor in LICP, CAS, China, and head of the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication in LICP. He gained his Ph.D. degree in 2004 and spent three years (2005–2008) in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK, as a research associate. He has published more than 400 journal papers that received more than 23,000 citations and has the high-index 84. He has applied for 150 patents and 80 patents have been authorized. He serves as an editorial board member of Tribology International, Friction, Journal Fiber Bioengineering and Informatics, and Coatings, etc. His current research interests include surface/interface of soft matters, marine antifouling, drag reduction, biological lubrication, and high performance lubricants.
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Wu, X., Liu, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. Interfacial mechanism of hydrogel with controllable thickness for stable drag reduction. Friction 12, 231–244 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0744-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-023-0744-z