Bio-Inspired Active Self-Cleaning Surfaces via Filament-Like Sweepers Array.

Hydrodynamic forces from moving fluids can be utilized to remove contaminants which is an ideal fouling-release strategy for underwater surfaces. However, the hydrodynamic forces in the viscous sublayer are greatly reduced owing to the no-slip condition, which restricts their practical applications. Here, inspired by sweeper tentacles of corals, we report an active self-cleaning surface with flexible filament-like sweepers. The sweepers can penetrate the viscous sublayer by utilizing energy from outer turbulent flows and remove contaminants with adhesion strength of more than 30 kPa. Under an oscillating flow, the removal rate of the single sweeper can reach up to 99.5% due to dynamic buckling movements. In addition, the sweepers array can completely clean its coverage area within 10 s through coordinated movements as symplectic waves. Our active self-cleaning surface depends on the fluid-structure coupling between sweepers and flows, which breaks the concept of conventional self-cleaning. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.