Inorganic surface fouling is a problematic issue that poses both economic and safety risks to a
number of industries, particularly the oil and gas sector. Current scale prevention methods vary
and can be both costly and inefficient. LIS (Liquid infused/Lubricant Impregnated Surfaces) or
SLIPS (Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces) represent a new development that has the potential
to provide a surface engineering solution to the scale dilemma. SLIPS are driven by a low surface
energy lubricant held in place by a textured surface, underpinning the surfaces self-healing,
self-cleaning and omniphobic capabilities. In the current study, an original SLIPS has been fabricated on carbon steel by utilizing an iron carbonate corrosion by-product (FeC03) layer, functionalized with an aminosilane and infused with either fluorinated ionic liquid or fluorinated oil.
A combination of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray has been used to study
the anti-fouling performance of the new surface in a high scaling CaC03 environment. Scaling tests
indicate substantial reduction in scale on the FeC03 SLIPS compared to untreated carbon steel, the
prevalent material used in oil and gas pipelines. Surface deposition and crystal adhesion
mechanisms are disrupted with the SLIPS surface by reducing the density of nucleation sites and
increasing the activation barrier to nucleation. These results shed light on the growing importance
of surface engineering as an effective tool in the comprehensive management of scale. It also
importantly exploits the naturally forming corrosion product (FeC03) and adopts it to give the
surface scale reduction functionality. Normally the formation of FeC03 corrosion product
complicates scale management.