Fabrication of superhydrophobic nanostructured surface on aluminum alloy

A superhydrophobic surface was prepared by consecutive immersion in boiling water and sputtering of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE or Teflon®) on the surface of an aluminum alloy substrate. Immersion in boiling water was used to create a micro-nanostructure on the alloy substrate. Then, the rough surface was coated with RF-sputtered Teflon film. The immersion time in boiling water plays an important role in surface morphology and water repellency of the deposited Teflon coating. Scanning electron microscopy images showed a “flower-like” structure in first few minutes of immersion. And as the immersion time lengthened, a “cornflake” structure appeared. FTIR analyses of Teflon-like coating deposited on water treated aluminum alloy surfaces showed fluorinated groups, which effectively reduce surface energy. The Teflon-like coating deposited on a rough surface achieved with five-minute immersion in boiling water provided a high static contact angle (～164°) and low contact angle hysteresis (～4°).     

Wetting and superhydrophobic properties of PECVD grown hydrocarbon and fluorinated-hydrocarbon coatings

Wetting characteristics of micro-nanorough substrates of aluminum and smooth silicon substrates have been studied and compared by depositing hydrocarbon and fluorinated-hydrocarbon coatings via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique using a mixture of Ar, CH₄ and C₂F₆ gases. The water contact angles on the hydrocarbon and fluorinated-hydrocarbon coatings deposited on silicon substrates were found to be 72° and 105°, respectively. However, the micro-nanorough aluminum substrates demonstrated superhydrophobic properties upon coatings with fluorinated-hydrocarbon providing a water contact angle of ∼165° and contact angle hysteresis below 2° with water drops rolling off from those surfaces while the same substrates showed contact angle of 135° with water drops sticking on those surfaces. The superhydrophobic properties is due to the high fluorine content in the fluorinated-hydrocarbon coatings of ∼36 at.%, as investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), by lowering the surface energy of the micro-nanorough aluminum substrates.     

Fabrication and characterization of a cotton candy like surface with superhydrophobicity

Superhydrophobic thin films were prepared on glass by air-brushing the in situ polymerization compositions of D₅/SiO₂. The wettability and morphology were investigated by contact angle measurement and scanning electron microscopy. The most superhydrophobic samples prepared had a static water contact angle of 157° for a 5 μl droplet and a sliding angle of ∼1° for 10 μl droplet. Thermal stability analysis showed that the surface maintained superhydrophobic at temperature up to 450 °C. Air trapping and capillary force on superhydrophobic behavior were evaluated.     

Preparation of superhydrophobic films on titanium as effective corrosion barriers

Stable superhydrophobic films were prepared on the electrochemical oxidized titania/titanium substrate by a simple immersion technique into a methanol solution of hydrolyzed 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane [CF₃(CF₂)₅(CH₂)₂Si(OCH₂CH₃)₃, PTES] for 1 h at room temperature followed by a short annealing at 140 °C in air for 1 h. The surface morphologies and chemical composition of the film were characterized by means of water contact angle (CA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The water contact angle on the surface of this film was measured to be as high as 160°. SEM images showed that the resulting surfaces exhibited special hierarchical structure. The special hierarchical structure along with the low surface energy leads to the high surface superhydrophobicity. The corrosion resistance ability and durance property of the superhydrophobic film in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was evaluated by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The anticorrosion properties of the superhydrophobic film are compared to those of unmodified pure titanium and titania/titanium substrates. The results showed that the superhydrophobic film provides an effective corrosion resistant coating for the titanium metal even with immersion periods up to 90 d in the 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, pointing to promising future applications.     

Superhydrophobic cotton fabric coating based on a complex layer of silica nanoparticles and perfluorooctylated quaternary ammonium silane coupling agent

A superhydrophobic complex coating for cotton fabrics based on silica nanoparticles and perfluorooctylated quaternary ammonium silane coupling agent (PFSC) was reported in this article. The complex thin film was prepared through a sol-gel process using cotton fabrics as a substrate. Silica nanoparticles in the coating made the textile surface much rougher, and perfluorooctylated quaternary ammonium silane coupling agent on the top layer of the surface lowered the surface free energy. Textiles coated with this coating showed excellent water repellent property, and water contact angle (CA) increased from 133° on cotton fabrics treated with pure PFSC without silica sol pretreatment up to 145°. The oil repellency was also improved and the contact angle of CH₂I₂ droplet on the fabric surface reached to 131°. In contrast, the contact angle of CH₂I₂ on the fabric surface treated with pure PFSC was only 125°.     

Fabrication and surface characterization of biomimic superhydrophobic copper surface by solution-immersion and self-assembly

Biomimic superhydrophobic surfaces with contact angle greater than 150° and low sliding angle on copper substrate were fabricated by means of a facile solution immersion and surface self-assembly method. The scanning electron microscopy showed a nanoneedle structure copper surface with sporadic flower-like aggregates after treatment with sodium hydroxide and potassium persulfate solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction results confirmed that the formed nanoneedles were crystallized Cu(OH)₂. And the hydrophilic Cu(OH)₂ surface can be further modified into superhydrophobic through surface self-assembly with dodecanoic acid.     

Fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces on aluminum

A superhydrophobic surface was prepared on aluminum substrate. Anodization and low-temperature plasma treatment were used to create micro-nano-structure and subsequently trichlorooctadecyl-silane modified the rough surface. The result shows that the water static contact of the aluminum surface after anodization and modification by trichlorooctadecyl-silane reaches to 152.1°. A rougher surface with some micro-nano-pores and small mastoids along the edges of pores was generated when low-temperature plasma treatment was applied to anodized aluminum film, resulting in water static contact angle up to 157.8°.     

Mechanically stable and corrosion resistant superhydrophobic sol-gel coatings on copper substrate

Development of the anticorrosion coatings on metals having both passive matrix functionality and active response to changes in the aggressive environment has raised tremendous interest in material science. Using a sol-gel deposition method, superhydrophobic copper substrate could be obtained. The best hydrophobic coating sol was prepared with methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), methanol (MeOH), and water (as 7 M NH₄OH) at a molar ratio of 1:19.1:4.31 respectively. The surface morphological study showed the ball like silica particles distributed on the copper substrate with particle sizes ranging from 8 to 12 μm. The coatings showed the static water contact angle as high as 155° and the water sliding angle as low as 7°. The superhydrophobic nature was maintained even though the deposited copper substrate was soaked for 100 h in 50% of HCl solution. The coatings are stable against humidity and showed superhydrophobic behavior even after 90 days of exposure. The coatings are mechanically stable and water drops maintained the spherical shape on the bent copper substrate, which was bent more than 90°.     

Superhydrophobicity of polytetrafluoroethylene thin film fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin films were obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique carried out with KrF excimer laser (λ = 248 nm) of about 1 J/cm² at a pressure of 1.33 Pa. The samples exhibit high water contact angle of about 170° and the sliding angle smaller than 2°. From studying the surface morphology of the prepared films, it is believed that the nano-scale surface roughness has enhanced the hydrophobic property of the PTFE. The increase of trapping air and reducing liquid-solid contact area due to the rough surface, as suggested by the Cassie-Baxter's model, should be responsible for superhydrophobicity of the PLD prepared films. This study thus provides a convenient one-step method without using wet-process to produce a superhydrophobic surface with good self-cleaning properties.     

Preparation and properties of ZnS superhydrophobic surface with hierarchical structure

A novel ZnS hierarchical structure composed of nanorod arrays with branched nanosheets and nanowires grown on their upside walls, was synthesized over Au-coated silicon substrate via chemical vapor deposition technique. Contact angle and sliding angle of this hierarchical film with no surface modification were measured to be about 153.8° and 9.1° for 5 μl water droplets. Self-cleaning behavior and dynamic water-repelling performance were clearly demonstrated. In addition, electrowetting transition phenomenon from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic state happened when a critical bias ∼7.0 V was applied. Below this threshold voltage, the contact angle change is little. This work for the first time reports the creation of ZnS superhydrophobic surface and could enrich its research field as surface functional materials.     

Superhydrophobic cotton fabric fabricated by electrostatic assembly of silica nanoparticles and its remarkable buoyancy

Highly hydrophilic cotton fabrics were rendered superhydrophobic via electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolyte/silica nanoparticle multilayers on cotton fibers, followed with a fluoroalkylsilane treatment. The surface morphology of the silica nanoparticle-coated fibers, which results in the variety of the hydrophobicity, can be tailored by controlling the multilayer number. Although with the static contact angle larger than 150°, in the case of 1 or 3 multilayers, the fabrics showed sticky property with a high contact angle hysteresis (>45°). For the cotton fabrics assembled with 5 multilayers or more, slippery superhydrophobicity with a contact angle hysteresis lower than 10° was achieved. The buoyancy of the superhydrophobic fabric was examined by using a miniature boat made with the fabric. The superhydrophobic fabric boat exhibited a remarkable loading capacity; for a boat with a volume of 8.0 cm³, the maximum loading was 11.6 or 12.2 g when the boat weight is included. Moreover, the superhydrophobic cotton fabric showed a reasonable durability to withstand at least 30 machine washing cycles.     

Preparation of transparent BN films with superhydrophobic surface

A novel approach was investigated to obtain the superhydrophobicity on surfaces of boron nitride films. In this method boron nitride films were deposited firstly on Si(1 0 0) and quartz substrate using a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system, and then using CF₄ plasma treatment, the topmost surface area can be modified systematically. The results have shown that the water contact angle on such surfaces can be tuned from 67° to 159°. The films were observed to be uniform. The surfaces of films consist of micro-features, which were confirmed by Atomic Force Micrograph. The chemical bond states of the films were determined by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, which indicate the dominance of B-N binding. According to the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis, the surface of film is mainly in BN phase. The micro-feature induced surface roughness is responsible for the observed superhydrophobic nature. The water contact angles measured on these surfaces can be modeled by the Cassie's formulation.     

Superhydrophobic alumina surface based on stearic acid modification

A novel superhydrophobic alumina surface is fabricated by grafting stearic acid layer onto the porous and roughened aluminum film. The chemical and phase structure, morphology, and the chemical state of the atoms at the superhydrophobic surface were investigated by techniques as FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, and XPS, respectively. Results show that a super water-repellent surface with a contact angle of 154.2° is generated. The superhydrophobic alumina surface takes on an uneven flowerlike structure with many nanometer-scale hollows distribute in the nipple-shaped protrusions, and which is composed of boehmite crystal and γ-Al₂O₃. Furthermore, the roughened and porous alumina surface is coated with a layer of hydrophobic alkyl chains which come from stearic acid molecules. Therefore, both the roughened structure and the hydrophobic layer endue the alumina surface with the superhydrophobic behavior.     

Fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces on zinc substrates

Stable superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated on the zinc substrates through simple silver replacement deposition process with the modification of octadecyl mercaptan. The effects of reaction conditions on the surface morphology and wettability of the prepared surfaces were carefully studied. The results show that the fabrication of a best superhydrophobic surface depends largely on the moderate reactant concentration. When the concentration of AgNO₃ solution was 2 mmol/L, the zinc substrate was covered by a dendritic outline structure. Aggregated silver nanoparticles were formed on the substrate in accordance with some certain laws, exhibiting great surface roughness. The typical hierarchical micro-nanostructures, flower-like structures and porous structures also could be found from the SEM images. The maximal water contact angle (CA) value of about 161 ± 2°, and the minimal sliding angle (SA) of about 2° were obtained under the same reaction condition.     

Comparative studies on p-type CuI grown on glass and copper substrate by SILAR method

Depending upon the method of synthesis and the nature of substrate surface, there is variation in the physico-chemical properties of the material. Cuprous iodide films are deposited at room temperature on the glass and copper substrates by a simple SILAR method and the obtained results are compared. The p-type material with optical band gap 2.88 eV is found to be possessing face-centered cubic crystal structure with lattice parameter 6.134 Å. We observed irregular particles for the CuI film on the glass substrate while patterned arrays of micro-rods with cabbage like tips on copper substrate, for the same preparative conditions. Also, the material deposited on copper is showing superhydrophobic nature (contact angle ∼156°) while that on glass it is hydrophilic (contact angle ∼88°). We have characterized the thin films by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, surface roughness and contact angle measurement, thermoelectric power measurement and optical studies. This hydrophobic, p-type material with wide band gap will be helpful in the development of optoelectronic devices.     

A novel method to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces based on well-defined mulberry-like particles and self-assembly of polydimethylsiloxane

A superhydrophobic surface was obtained by combining application of CaCO₃/SiO₂ mulberry-like composite particles, which originated from violent stirring and surface modification, and self-assembly of polydimethylsiloxane. Water contact angle and sliding angle of the superhydrophobic surface were measured to be about 164 ± 2.5° and 5°, respectively. The excellent hydrophobicity is attributed to the synergistic effect of micro-submicro-nano-meter scale roughness (fabricated by composite particles) and the low surface energy (provided by polydimethylsiloxane). This procedure makes it possible for widespread applications of superhydrophobic film due to its simplicity and practicability.     

Surface modification of porous poly(tetrafluoraethylene) film by a simple chemical oxidation treatment

A simple, inexpensive and environmental chemical treatment process, i.e., treating porous poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) films by a mixture of potassium permanganate solution and nitric acid, was proposed to improve the hydrophilicity of PTFE. To evaluate the effectiveness of this strong oxidation treatment, contact angle measurement was performed. The effects of treatment time and temperature on the contact angle of PTFE were studied as well. The results showed that the chemical modification decreased contact angle of as-received PTFE film from 133 ± 3° to 30 ± 4° treated at 100 °C for 3 h, effectively converting the hydrophobic PTFE to a hydrophilic PTFE matrix. The changes in chemical structure, surface compositions and crystal structure of PTFE were examined by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. It was found that the F/C atomic ratio decreased from untreated 1.65-0.10 treated by the mixture at 100 °C for 3 h. Hydrophilic groups such as carbonyl (CO) and hydroxyl (OH) were introduced on the surface of PTFE after treatment. Furthermore, hydrophilic compounds K_0.27MnO₂·0.54H₂O was absorbed on the surface of porous PTFE film. Both the introduction of hydrophilic groups and absorption of hydrophilic compounds contribute to the significantly decreased contact angle of PTFE.     

Thermal effect on superhydrophobic performance of stearic acid modified ZnO nanotowers

The thermal desorption of stearic acid on superhydrophobic zinc oxide nanotowers has been investigated. The stearic acid passivated zinc oxide nanotowers provide a very high contact angle of ∼173 ± 1.1° with a very low hysteresis of ∼1.4 ± 0.5° due to the presence of a binary structure composed of several nanosteps on each nanotower of height ∼700 nm that eventually reduces the area of contact between the drop and the nanotowers and trapping more air as revealed by the field emission scanning electron microscopy images. The superhydrophobic performance of these nanotowers, however, declines following annealing at elevated temperatures. Fourier transform infrared spectra show a reduction in the intensity of stearic acid -CH_n peaks at elevated temperatures revealing the cause of the decrease in contact angle and confirming the occurrence of thermal desorption at 184 °C. The corresponding activation energy for desorption determined from our data is 0.34 ± 0.05 eV. It is found that the stearic acid has completely disappeared at 350 °C, making the sample hydrophilic.     

Controlled growth of superhydrophobic films by sol-gel method on aluminum substrate

Superhydrophobic surface was prepared by sol-gel method on aluminum substrate via immersing the clean pure aluminum substrate into the solution of zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O) and hexamethylenetetraamine (C₆H₁₂N₄) at different molar ratios and unchanged 0.04 mol/L total concentration, then heated at 95 °C in water bath for 1.5 h, subsequently modified with 18 alkanethiols or stearic acid. When the molar ratios of Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and C₆H₁₂N₄ were changed from 10:1 to 1:1 the contact angle was higher than 150°. The best prepared surface had a high water contact angle of about 154.8°, as well as low angle hysteresis of about 3°. The surface of prepared films using Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and C₆H₁₂N₄ composed of ZnO and Zn-Al LDH, and Al. SEM images of the film showed that the resulting surface exhibits different flower-shaped wurtzite zinc oxide microstructure and porous Zn-Al LDH. The special flowerlike and porous architecture, along with the low surface energy leads to the surface superhydrophobicity.     

Deposition of superhydrophobic nanostructured Teflon-like coating using expanding plasma arc

A novel approach was used to grow nanostructured Teflon-like superhydrophobic coatings on stainless steel (SS). In this method Teflon tailings were pyrolyzed to generate fluorocarbon precursor molecules, and an expanding plasma arc (EPA) was used to polymerize these precursors to deposit Teflon-like coating. The coating shows super hydrophobic behavior with water contact angle (WCA) of 165°. The coating was observed to be uniform. It consists of nanostructured (∼80-200 nm) features, which were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The chemical bond state of the film was determined by XPS and FTIR, which indicate the dominance of -CF₂ groups in the deposited coating. The combination of nanofeature induced surface roughness and the low surface energy imparted by Teflon-like coating is responsible for the observed superhydrophobic nature.