Anti-scaling properties of a SLIPS material prepared by silicon oil infusion in porous polyaniline obtained by electropolymerization

Abstract Surfaces termed SLIPS (Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surface) present quite singular properties, for instance, self-healing and self-cleaning, which make them very promising for a broad range of applications in so diverse fields such as medical, avionic, oil and gas industries, among others. Considering that scaling is a crucial problem in many industrial facilities in this work the anti-scaling ability of one SLIPS was evaluated. This SLIPS was prepared by infusion of silicon oil into porous electropolymerized and silanized polyaniline. Aniline electropolymerization produced a coating with a textured morphology that was then modified by silanization to allow a complete wetting by the silicon oil used to impregnate the textured surface and avoid its leakage during the scaling and cleaning stages. This material, termed E - PANI3 - S , was submitted to scaling test by immersion into a brine with a composition similar to the formation water found in some oil wells and was assessed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), showing clear anti-scaling properties.