Superhydrophobicity of polyvinylidene fluoride membrane fabricated by chemical vapor deposition from solution

Due to the chemical stability and flexibility, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes are widely used as the topcoat of architectural membrane structures, roof materials of vehicle, tent fabrics, and so on. Further modified PVDF membrane with superhydrophobic property may be even superior as the coating layer surface. The lotus flower is always considered to be a sacred plant, which can protect itself against water, dirt, and dust. The superhydrophobic surface of lotus leaf is rough, showing the micro- and nanometer scale morphology. In this work, the microreliefs of lotus leaf were mimicked using PVDF membrane and the nanometer scale peaks on the top of the microreliefs were obtained by the method of chemical vapor deposition from solution. The surface morphology of PVDF membrane was investigated by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). Elemental composition analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the material of the nanostructure of PVDF membrane was polymethylsiloxane. On the lotus-leaf-like PVDF membrane, the water contact angle and sliding angle were 155° and 4°, respectively, exhibiting superhydrophobic property.     

Preparation of lotus-like superhydrophobic fluoropolymer films

Styrene and 2,2,3,4,4,4-hexafluorobutyl methacrylate copolymers were synthesized by bulk polymerization, and the superhydrophobic copolymer films were prepared subsequently using phase separation technique. The copolymer was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran, and then added ethanol into the solution thereafter, to induce phase separation. The microstructures of the polymer films were controlled by the degree of phase separation, which was enhanced properly by the concentration of ethanol. The surface morphology of the films, observed by environmental scanning electron microscope, is similar to that of the lotus leaf. The contact angle and sliding angle were measured as 154.3° and 5.8°, respectively. The excellent superhydrophobic property demonstrated that the phase separation technique is useful for preparing lotus-like fluoropolymer films.     

Semiconductor supported biomimetic superhydrophobic gold surfaces by the galvanic exchange reaction

Highly stable gold micro-nanostructures with various morphologies were fabricated using a galvanic exchange reaction under different conditions, such as, concentration of gold salt, illumination, solution temperature, ultrasonication, or addition of surfactants. After modification of the gold films with n-dodecanethiol, superhydrophobic surface (contact angle 165°) similar to the lotus leaf was obtained. In addition, the mechanism for superhydrophobic property was discussed.     

A simple solution-immersion process for the fabrication of superhydrophobic cupric stearate surface with easy repairable property

The present work reports a simple and time-saving method to fabricate cupric stearate film on zinc substrate by a solution-immersion process. Superhydrophobic surfaces are conventionally prepared employing two steps: roughening a surface and lowering its surface energy. The fabrication of superhydrophobic cupric stearate surface is reported using a one-step process by immersing a zinc plate coated with copper into the stearic acid solution, simplifying the complexity of two different steps involved in the conventional methods. The surface of the zinc plate coated with copper is found to be covered with low surface energy cupric stearate film providing the water contact angle of 160 ± 1° with the rolling off properties. In addition, the damaged superhydrophobic surface can restore superhydrophobicity property by immersing the surface into the stearic acid solution again.     

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.     

Fabrication of superhydrophobic wood surface by a sol-gel process

The superhydrophobic wood surface was fabricated via a sol-gel process followed by a fluorination treatment of 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H- perfluoroalkyltriethoxysilanes (POTS) reagent. The crystallization type of silica nanoparticles on wood surface was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), the microstructure and chemical composition of the superhydrophobic wood surface were described by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), the bonding force between the silica nanoparticles and POTS reagent was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and the superhydrophobic property of the treated sample was measured by contact angle (CA) measurements. An analytical characterization revealed that nanoscale silica spheres stacked uniformly over the wood surface, and with the combination of the high surface roughness of silica nanoparticles and the low surface free energy film of POTS on wood surface, the wood surface has turned its wetting property from hydrophilic into superhydrophobic with a water contact angle of 164° and sliding angle less than 3°.     

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.     

A simple method for the preparation of superhydrophobic PVDF-HMFS hybrid composite coatings

A superhydrophobic surface was obtained by embedding hydrophobically modified fumed silica (HMFS) particles in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix. The water contact angle (WCA) on the PVDF-HMFS hybrid composite coating is influenced by the content and nature of silica particles in the coating. As the silica concentration in PVDF matrix was increased from 33.3% to 71.4%, WCA increased from 117° to 168° and the sliding angle decreased from 90° to <1°. Surface topography of the coating was examined using scanning electron microscopy. An irregular rough surface structure composed of microcavities and nanofilaments was found to be responsible for the superhydrophobicity. The method is simple and cost-effective and can be used for preparing self-cleaning superhydrophobic coating on large areas of different substrates.     

Superhydrophobic wind turbine blade surfaces obtained by a simple deposition of silica nanoparticles embedded in epoxy

Samples of wind turbine blade surface have been covered with a superhydrophobic coating made of silica nanoparticles embedded in commercial epoxy paint. The superhydrophobic surfaces have a water contact angle around 152°, a hysteresis less than 2° and a water drop sliding angle around 0.5°. These surfaces are water repellent so that water drops cannot remain motionless on the surface. Examination of coated and uncoated surfaces with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, together with measurements of water contact angles, indicates that the air trapped in the cavity enhances the water repellency similarly to the lotus leaf effect. Moreover, this new coating is stable under UVC irradiation and water pouring. The production of this nanoscale coating film being simple and low cost, it can be considered as a suitable candidate for water protection of different outdoor structures.     

Superhydrophobicity of silica nanoparticles modified with polystyrene

Polystyrene/silica nanoparticles were prepared by radical polymerization of silica nanoparticles possessing vinyl groups and styrene with benzoyl peroxide. The resulting vinyl silica nanoparticles, polystyrene/silica nanoparticles were characterized by means of Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The results indicated that polystyrene had been successfully grafted onto vinyl silica nanoparticles via covalent bond. The morphological structure of polystyrene/silica nanoparticles film, investigated by scanning electron microscopy, showed a characteristic rough structure. Surface wetting properties of the polystyrene/silica nanoparticles film were evaluated by measuring water contact angle and the sliding angle using a contact angle goniometer, which were measured to be 159° and 2°, respectively. The excellent superhydrophobic property enlarges potential applications of the superhydrophobic surfaces.