Interfacial mechanism of hydrogel with controllable thickness for stable drag reduction

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.