Novel Surfactants and Cleaning Technologies

几个世纪以来，清洁是家庭和工业过程中的一项重要任务，需要大量的资源，如水和能源。为了给我们的社会提供一个可持续的未来，迫切需要创新来减少清洁所需的资源。该项目的目的是开发用于去除复杂食物污垢的创新表面活性剂。在2009年开发的清洁地图的基础上（Fryer和Asteriadou，Trends Food Sci. Technol.），近年来，UoBteam已经建立了关于食品污垢和清洁的新见解（O。Herrera-Márquez et al. J. Cleaner Prod. 261，2020，121254; Avila-Sierraet al. ACS Appl.Mater.接口。13，2021，35506），使用先进的分析方法跨越多个长度尺度。我们将量化食品清洁过程中涉及的物理转化，如复杂食品的表面能，固体基质的物理化学特性，作为所用表面活性剂的函数的液-液界面能，食品污垢的杨氏模量，基质中小分子的扩散动力学，表面附着力作为pH值和离子强度函数，食品污垢的内聚性。将使用的技术包括定制的微操作，纳米压痕，接触角测角仪，界面张力计，紫外-可见，太赫兹成像，短波红外高光谱成像，共聚焦显微镜和微流体设备。预计该项目将确定和/或优化一系列新型表面活性剂可持续清洁，从而所需的资源可以保持在最低水平。

For centuries, cleaning is an essential task for both household and industrial processes, whichrequires considerable amount of resources such as water and energy. To deliver a sustainablefuture for our society, innovation is urgently required in reducing the resource required forcleaning.The aim of this project is to develop innovative surfactants for removal of complex food soils.Building upon the Cleaning Map developed in 2009 (Fryer and Asteriadou, Trends Food Sci.Technol.), new insights concerning food fouling and cleaning have been established by the UoBteam in recent years (O. Herrera-Márquez et al. J. Cleaner Prod. 261, 2020, 121254; Avila-Sierraet al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 13, 2021, 35506), using advanced analytical methods acrossmultiple length scales.We will quantify the physical transformations involved in a food cleaning process such assurface energy of complex food, physico-chemical characteristics of the solid substrate, liquid-liquid interfacial energy as a function of surfactants used, Young's modulus of food foulant,diffusion kinetics of small molecules in matrix, surface adhesion as a function of pH and ionicstrength, cohesiveness of food foulant. Techniques to be used include a custom-buildmicromanipulation, Nanoindentation, contact angle goniometer, interfacial tensiometer, UV-vis,terahertz imaging, SWIR hyperspectral imaging, confocal microscopy, and microfluidic devices.It is envisaged that the project will identify and/or optimise a series of novel surfactants forsustainable cleaning whereby resources required could be kept at minimal level.