Tunable surface wettability of ZnO nanorods prepared by two-step method

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were deposited on silicon substrate by two-step method. The crystal structure, surface morphology and water contact angle (WCA) were measured by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and water contact angle apparatus. It is demonstrated that the WCA of the as-grown ZnO nanorods varies between 136° and 43° and the contact angle reduction rate of ZnO nanorods changes rapidly with increasing growth time. The variation of contact angle in the as-grown samples and contact angle reduction rate has been attributed to the combined effects of the proportion of nonpolar planes in the outermost surface, the area fraction of vapor on the surface and the increase of surface energy of ZnO nanorods.     

Tailoring the wettability of patterned silicon surfaces with dual-scale pillars: From hydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity

Wettability tailoring of patterned silicon surface has great potential in fields producing integrated circuits, solar cells, sensors, detectors, and micro/nano electromechanical systems. The present paper presents a convenient yet effective method of combining reactive ion etching and catalyzed etching to prepare silicon surface with micro-nano dual-scale pillars. The experimental results indicate that the hydrophilic surface transformed to a superhydrophobic surface when micro-nano dual-scale pillars were formed. The surface preserved superhydrophobicity even when the geometric parameters of the micropillars were changed. Overhangs of water drops on steep micro-nano dual-scale pillars result in superhydrophobicity. This method offers a new way for tailoring the wettability of patterned silicon surfaces.     

Functionalization of PET and PA6.6 woven fabrics

In the present work as received woven fabrics of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) were exposed to a continuous dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), in air at atmospheric pressure, at selected discharge power values and conveyor speeds. The chemical modification of the fabric surface was studied by contact angle analysis, attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results confirmed that the treatment changed the fabric surface chemistry, increasing its wettability by polar liquids and its oxygen content. Contact angle results showed different behaviour of the two polymer fabrics toward ageing effects; while PET showed a contact angle increase along the subsequent days of treatment, the PA6.6 fabric maintained its hydrophilicity even 15 days after treatment. The surface morphology analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), did not show any significant difference before and after treatment.     

Critical heat flux and nucleate boiling on several heterogeneous wetting surfaces: Controlled hydrophobic patterns on a hydrophilic substrate

We used a heating surface composed of a hydrophilic substrate with hydrophobic dots to characterize the effect of spatially-different surface characteristics on critical heat flux (CHF) and nucleate boiling. To ascertain important surface factors that control CHF and boiling on heterogeneous wetting surfaces, we adjusted the hydrophobic dot diameter and the relative pitch between adjacent dots. Based on the dynamics of bubbles on hydrophobic dots, we analyze the trend of CHF on differently-fabricated heterogeneous wetting surfaces. CHFs on heterogeneous wetting surfaces were strongly dependent on ratio R of the area covered by hydrophobic dots to the heated area, but independent on the diameter of hydrophobic dots and the pitch distance. The improvement of boiling heat transfer (BHT) varied according to the conditions, and appeared to be related to the diameter, pitch distance and the number of hydrophobic dots, but the effect of R on BHT was negligible. Based on this study, we propose optimized conditions of a hydrophobic patterned surface. To sustain high CHF of a hydrophilic surface and high BHT of a hydrophobic surface, numerous micron-size hydrophobic dots should be fabricated with small R.     

Influence of spacer in the formation of nanorings by templateless electropolymerization

In this original work, we want to control the shape of the resulting porous structures by templateless electropolymerization, by adjusting the spacer (flexible alkyl chains or rigid aromatic groups) between thieno[3,4-b]thiophene and carbazole used as the monomer and the substituent, respectively. A huge change is especially observed from ribbon-like structures to nanorings as the alkyl spacer increases. The presence of a significant amount of water is necessary for the formation of these porous structures because it allows releasing a high amount of gas bubbles. The size and number of nanorings are dependent on both the alkyl spacer and electrochemical parameters such as the number of deposition scans. These surfaces could be used in the future in various potential applications such as in water harvesting, oil/water separation membranes, optical devices, sensors or photocatalysis.     

A numerical study on viscoelastic droplet migration on a solid substrate due to wettability gradient

This study investigates the viscoelastic effects on droplet migration induced by a wettability gradient on a rigid substrate by a numerical simulation based on OpenFOAM with the volume‐of‐fluid method. The droplets are set with different rheological properties to investigate the effect of the elastic parameters. The Oldroyd‐B model was employed. Quantitative differences in the migration and deformation between Newtonian and viscoelastic droplets were investigated by changing the degree of elasticity. The droplet migration shows conspicuously higher mobility for high elasticity, especially during the accelerating period. Moreover, the displacement and velocity increased with the decrease of a viscoelasticity parameter, and the velocity enhancement was regulated by the elastic instability shown at a high Weissenberg number. In addition, the velocity of the droplet changes more significantly over the range of contact angles of 130° to 60° compared to other wettability‐gradient surfaces.     

受限空间内油水界面动态特性及粘附行为的荧光原位观测

水污染作为润滑油污染的常见形式,对润滑油本身以及机械系统都有巨大的危害。为了模拟实际非均匀多相系统中的界面行为,本文搭建了高精度点接触实验台来研究传统的不溶相替换问题。将目前静态平行受限空间内油水界面行为的研究推广到动态点接触楔形受限空间内,探究了游离水滴穿过点接触狭缝间毛细油池过程中的界面特性。重点关注固壁润湿性以及固壁的分离运动对整个侵入过程中液滴动态行为的影响。实验发现了铺展系数是决定油水界面融合和分离特性的关键因素,揭示了固壁润湿性和球盘间的相对分离运动会影响游离水滴穿过毛细油池之后的粘附行为。表面张力和液体与壁面之间的粘附功能够解释观测的实验现象。     

Characterization and Wettability of ZnO Film Prepared by Chemical Etching Method

ZnO thin films were prepared by a chemical etching method and their wettability was investigated. The structure and surface composition structure were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectronic spectrometry(XPS), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Raman spectrometry. These analyses reveal that the etched films were large-scale micro-nanohierarchical structures composed of a Zn core and a ZnO coating. Superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angles of over 150o were obtained by n-octadecanethiol(ODT) modification. The XPS and Raman results indicate that ODT molecules were bound to the ZnO surface with the S head group by forming Zn-S bond.     

环氧树脂在碳纤维表面的浸润行为

利用场发射环境扫描电境(FESEM)测定了室温下环氧树脂在单纤维表面的接触角,观测并计算了环氧树脂液滴在单根碳纤维表面的接触角随温度的变化,结果表明接触角随温度升高明显降低,说明升高温度有利于改善环氧树脂对碳纤维的浸润性能.用液滴形状分析仪(DSA)在垂直和平行于纤维排列方向上观测了不同温度下单向排列碳纤维集束表面环氧树脂的铺展过程,发现在不同方向上观测到的接触角差别较大,其中垂直于纤维排列方向上观测到的接触角随温度的变化与环氧树脂在单根碳纤维表面的接触角变化基本一致,说明环氧树脂在平行于纤维束方向的接触角真正代表其浸润性能.     

Green chemicals and process to graft cellulose fibers

The treatment of additive-free hand sheet paper samples with cold plasma was carried out and showed that cellulose can be chemically linked with reactive natural products, namely myrcene (My) and limonene (LM). Contact-angle measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to ascertain the occurrence of the grafting. Indeed, the contact-angle value of a drop of water deposited at the surface of paper increased from 30° for unmodified substrate to about 105 and 107°, for LM- and My-treated samples, respectively. In fact, LM- and My-treated surfaces were rendered totally apolar. Indeed, the polar contribution to the surface energy decreased from about 23 mJ/m² for pristine samples to practically zero for treated ones. The treated surfaces displayed water-barrier properties; the penetration of the liquid was reduced significantly after LM and My treatments. The XPS spectra showed that the modification with LM and My gave rise to very significant change in the O/C ratio, as well as in the intensity of the C1 peak assigned to aliphatic carbon sequences.