Effect of nanobubbles on friction forces between hydrophobic surfaces in water

Micro- and nanoscale combined hierarchical polymer structures were fabricated by UV-assisted capillary force lithography. The method is based on the sequential application of engraved polymer molds with a UV-curable resin of polyurethane acrylate (PUA) followed by surface treatment with a trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl) silane in vapor phase. Two distinct wetting states were observed on these dual-roughness structures. One is “Cassie–Wenzel state” where a water droplet forms heterogeneous contact with microstructures and homogeneous contact with nanostructures. The other is “Cassie–Cassie state” where a droplet makes heterogeneous contact both with micro- and nanostructures. A simple thermodynamic model was developed to explain static contact angle, hysteresis, and wetting transition on dual-roughness structures.     

Island organization of TiO2 hierarchical nanostructures induced by surface wetting and drying

We report on the reorganization and bundling of titanium oxide nanostructured layers, induced by wetting with different solvents and subsequent drying. TiO(2) layers are deposited by pulsed laser deposition and are characterized by vertically oriented, columnar-like structures resulting from assembling of nanosized particles; capillary forces acting during evaporation induce bundling of these structures and lead to a micrometer-size patterning with statistically uniform islands separated by channels. The resulting surface is characterized by a hierarchical, multiscale morphology over the nanometer-micrometer length range. The structural features of the pattern, i.e., characteristic length, island size, and channel width, are shown to depend on properties of the liquid (i.e., surface tension) and thickness and density of the TiO(2) layers. The studied phenomenon permits the controlled production of multiscale hierarchically patterned surfaces of nanostructured TiO(2) with large porosity and large surface area, characterized by superhydrophilic wetting behavior without need for UV irradiation.     

Surface-directed capillary system; theory, experiments and applications

We present a capillary flow system for liquid transport in microsystems. Our simple microfluidic system consists of two planar parallel surfaces, separated by spacers. One of the surfaces is entirely hydrophobic, the other mainly hydrophobic, but with hydrophilic pathways defined on it by photolithographic means. By controlling the wetting properties of the surfaces in this manner, the liquid can be confined to certain areas defined by the hydrophilic pathways. This technique eliminates the need for alignment of the two surfaces. Patterned plasma-polymerized hexafluoropropene constitutes the hydrophobic areas, whereas the untreated glass surface constitutes the hydrophilic pathways. We developed a theoretical model of the capillary flow and obtained analytical solutions which are in good agreement with the experimental results. The capillarity-driven microflow system was also used to pattern and immobilize biological material on planar substrates: well-defined 200 microm wide strips of human cells (HeLa) and fluorescence labelled proteins (fluorescein isothiocyanate-labelled bovine serum albumin, i.e., FITC-BSA) were fabricated using the capillary flow system presented here.     

Fabrication of hierarchical structures by unconventional two-step imprinting

We present a simple sequential imprinting lithography method to fabricate micro/nanoscale hierarchical structures. This method involves hot embossing and capillary force lithography with two stamps of different microscales, which avoids using nanoscale stamps. By varying the experimental conditions in the capillary force lithography process, the morphology of the resulting structures can be controlled. This method may provide a facile and low-cost route for fabricating large area patterns of hierarchical structures.     

Silane-dextran chemistry on lateral flow polymer chips for immunoassays

The prognosis for patients suffering from cardiovascular and many other diseases can be substantially improved if diagnosed at an early stage. High performance diagnostic testing using disposable microfluidic chips can provide a platform for realizing this vision. Amic AB (Uppsala, Sweden) has developed a new microfluidic test chip for sandwich immunoassays fabricated by injection molding of the cycloolefin-copolymer Zeonor. A highly ordered array of micropillars within the fluidic chip distributes the sample solution by capillary action. Since wetting of the pillar array surface is the only driving force for liquid distribution precise control of the surface chemistry is crucial. In this work we demonstrate a novel protocol for surface hydrophilization and antibody immobilization on cycloolefin-copolymer test chips, based on direct silanisation of the thermoplastic substrate. Dextran is subsequently covalently coupled to amino groups, thus providing a coating with a low contact angle suitable for antibody immobilization. The contact angle of dextran coated chips is stable for at least two months, which enables production of large batches that can be stored for extended periods of time. We demonstrate the utility of the presented platform and surface chemistry in a C-reactive protein assay with a detection limit of 2.6 ng ml(-1), a dynamic range of 10(2) and a coefficient of variance of 15%.     

超声刻蚀法构建分级结构的超疏水表面

在湿法刻蚀和超声空化的基础上, 采用超声刻蚀法制备了具有微纳米分级结构的超疏水表面. 以等体积比的硝酸/乙醇(体积分数为4%)和双氧水(质量分数为30%)的混合溶液作为刻蚀剂, 在室温下对60Si2Mn钢、 60^#钢、 T10钢、 Cr06钢、 65Mn钢和硅钢表面超声刻蚀2~10 min, 构建出多种形貌的微纳米分级结构. 上述表面经氟硅烷修饰后具有超疏水性, 水的表观接触角高达157.0°, 155.8°, 157.4°, 154.9°, 157.6°和156.8°, 滚动角分别为6.5°, 19.2°, 6.1°, 7.8°, 6.7°和7.2°. 与常规刻蚀方法相比, 超声刻蚀的化学刻蚀作用因与空化作用耦合而得到强化和改变, 从而在钢表面构建出分级结构. 由于材料表面微结构形貌和固/液界面接触状态不同, 制得的超疏水表面表现出的润湿行为也不同. 超声刻蚀法简单易行, 成本低廉, 适用于其它金属表面构建微纳米分级结构和超疏水表面.     

Direct UV-replica molding of biomimetic hierarchical structure for selective wetting

describe a one-step UV-replica molding method for fabricating a biomimetic dual-scale hierarchical structure. The use of UV-curable, acrylate-functionalized perfluoropolyethers allows for a high fidelity replication of a low-energy surface with multiscale texture, thereby directly creating a superhydrophobic surface without any complicated processing. The superhydrophobic surface can simply be transformed selectively into a superhydrophilic surface by exposure to deep ultraviolet light. The prepared surface is inert to chemicals and solvents and maintains its wettability over a long period of time.     

Single nanocrystal arrays on patterned poly(ethylene glycol) copolymer microstructures using selective wetting and drying

Single nanocrystal arrays were fabricated on sub-microwells of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) copolymer using selective wetting on the hydrophilic regions of the exposed substrate surface and subsequent drying. Templates were produced by molding a thin film of a PEG-based random copolymer on hydrophilic substrates such as glass or silicon dioxide. The polymeric microstructures provide a topographical barrier around the well, which makes it possible to create nanocrystal arrays with controlled geometrical features. The size of the nanocrystal was found to decrease with decreasing well size and also decrease with decreasing topological height. A simple empirical equation was derived to predict the size of the crystal as a function of the pattern size and height, which is in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Fabrication of biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces by a simple flame treatment method

A simple flame treatment method was explored to construct micro/nanostructures on a surface and then fabricate a biomimetic superhydrophobic surface at a relatively low cost. SiO₂‐containing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was used as a substrate. The PDMS replicas with various micropatterned surfaces were fabricated using grass leaf, sand paper, and PET sheet with parallel groove geometry as templates via PDMS replica molding. The PDMS replica surfaces with micron structures and the surface of a flat PDMS sheet as a control sample were further treated by flame. The fabricated surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and water contact angle measurements. The effect of surface microstructures on the transparency of PDMS was also investigated. The studies indicate that the fine nanoscale structures can be produced on the surfaces of PDMS replicas and a flat PDMS sheet by a flame treatment method, and that the hierarchical surface roughness can be adjusted and controlled by varying the flame treatment time. The flame‐treated surfaces of PDMS replicas and a flat PDMS sheet possess superhydrophobicity and an ultra‐low sliding angle reaching a limiting value of 1°, and the anisotropic wettability of the PDMS replica surface with oriented microgroove structures can be greatly suppressed via flame treatment. The visible light transmittance of the flame‐treated flat PDMS surface decreases with prolonged flame treatment times. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabrication of high-aspect-ratio polymer microstructures and hierarchical textures using carbon nanotube composite master molds

Scalable and cost effective patterning of polymer structures and their surface textures is essential to engineer material properties such as liquid wetting and dry adhesion, and to design artificial biological interfaces. Further, fabrication of high-aspect-ratio microstructures often requires controlled deep-etching methods or high-intensity exposure. We demonstrate that carbon nanotube (CNT) composites can be used as master molds for fabrication of high-aspect-ratio polymer microstructures having anisotropic nanoscale textures. The master molds are made by growth of vertically aligned CNT patterns, capillary densification of the CNTs using organic solvents, and capillary-driven infiltration of the CNT structures with SU-8. The composite master structures are then replicated in SU-8 using standard PDMS transfer molding methods. By this process, we fabricated a library of replicas including vertical micro-pillars, honeycomb lattices with sub-micron wall thickness and aspect ratios exceeding 50:1, and microwells with sloped sidewalls. This process enables batch manufacturing of polymer features that capture complex nanoscale shapes and textures, while requiring only optical lithography and conventional thermal processing.     

纤维集合体内液体浸润的统计力学模型

采用Ising模型研究液体在纤维集合体内的浸润过程.假定纤维之间、纤维和液体之间的相互作用以van der Waals力为主,则纤维与液体之间的粘附能和液体内部的内聚能均可用Lifshitz理论计算（表面张力所作的功也被考虑在内）.该模型结合Monte Carlo 方法可用于模拟纤维集合体内液体浸润过程.模拟结果与芯吸实验相吻合,表明这一方法适用于液体在纤维集合体内浸润过程的研究.通过改变初始条件,该模型可进一步模拟液体在更加复杂的纤维结构内的浸润过程.     

Nanostructures increase water droplet adhesion on hierarchically rough superhydrophobic surfaces

Hierarchical roughness is known to effectively reduce the liquid-solid contact area and water droplet adhesion on superhydrophobic surfaces, which can be seen for example in the combination of submicrometer and micrometer scale structures on the lotus leaf. The submicrometer scale fine structures, which are often referred to as nanostructures in the literature, have an important role in the phenomenon of superhydrophobicity and low water droplet adhesion. Although the fine structures are generally termed as nanostructures, their actual dimensions are often at the submicrometer scale of hundreds of nanometers. Here we demonstrate that small nanometric structures can have very different effect on surface wetting compared to the large submicrometer scale structures. Hierarchically rough superhydrophobic TiO(2) nanoparticle surfaces generated by the liquid flame spray (LFS) on board and paper substrates revealed that the nanoscale surface structures have the opposite effect on the droplet adhesion compared to the larger submicrometer and micrometer scale structures. Variation in the hierarchical structure of the nanoparticle surfaces contributed to varying droplet adhesion between the high- and low-adhesive superhydrophobic states. Nanoscale structures did not contribute to superhydrophobicity, and there was no evidence of the formation of the liquid-solid-air composite interface around the nanostructures. Therefore, larger submicrometer and micrometer scale structures were needed to decrease the liquid-solid contact area and to cause the superhydrophobicity. Our study suggests that a drastic wetting transition occurs on superhydrophobic surfaces at the nanometre scale; i.e., the transition between the Cassie-Baxter and Wenzel wetting states will occur as the liquid-solid-air composite interface collapses around nanoscale structures. Consequently, water adheres tightly to the surface by penetrating into the nanostructure. The droplet adhesion mechanism presented in this paper gives valuable insight into a phenomenon of simultaneous superhydrophobicity and high water droplet adhesion and contributes to a more detailed comprehension of superhydrophobicity overall.     

形状记忆聚合物表面水下油黏附性的可逆调控

采用模板法在形状记忆聚合物表面获得一种具有形状记忆特征的表面微结构, 在氧等离子作用下, 表面呈现低黏附的水下超疏油特性. 在外压作用下, 表面微结构发生坍塌, 失去水下超疏油性, 同时表面对油滴呈高黏附特征. 在120 ℃热处理后, 表面微结构恢复到了原始状态, 在等离子进一步作用下, 表面即可恢复到最初的低黏附水下超疏油状态. 因此通过外压、 热处理及等离子作用即可实现对表面微结构及其水下油黏附性能的可逆调控. 研究表明, 表面不同的微结构状态赋予表面不同的黏附性能, 在原始表面液滴处于低黏附的Cassie态, 而在坍塌结构表面水滴处于高黏附的Wenzel态.     

ZnO hierarchical structures for efficient quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells

We report a direct precipitation method for mass production of ZnO microflowers (MFs) containing hierarchical structures. The ZnO MFs are constructed by interlaced single crystalline and porous nanosheets which are ideal photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) because the MFs can largely improve the energy harvesting performance and the efficiency of DSCs. Compared with other forms of nano-sized structures, the novel hierarchical structures show obvious advantages in DSC application because of their large surface area for dye-loading, good light scattering efficiency and excellent electrical transport property. The quasi-solid state DSCs fabricated with the MF hierarchical structures exhibited an efficiency of 4.12%, much higher than that of ZnO nanoparticle-based DSCs, indicating a great potential for the development of highly-efficient quasi-solid DSCs.     

Biomimetic antireflective hierarchical arrays

We report a simple method for the fabrication of biomimetic antireflective hierarchical arrays based on the combination of self-assembled polymer spheres and nanoimprint lithography (NIL). The hierarchical structures are fabricated by creating nanopillars on the microscale round protrusion arrays, which are similar to natural mosquito eyes consisting of combined micro- and nanostructures. The hierarchical arrays dramatically suppress the surface reflection from visible to near-infrared regions with an angle of incidence of up to 70°.     

Reversible wettability of a chemical vapor deposition prepared ZnO film between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity

A superhydrophobic ZnO thin film was fabricated by the Au-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition method. The surface of the film exhibits hierarchical structure with nanostructures on sub-microstructures. The water contact angle (CA) was 164.3 degrees, turning into a superhydrophilic one (CA < 5 degrees) after UV illumination, which can be recovered through being placed in the dark or being heated. The film was attached tightly to the substrate, showing good stability and durability. The surface structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.     

用于去除有机染料的分级结构ZnO微球的简便合成

以六亚甲基四胺(HMTA)为结构导向剂，采用乙二醇辅助的溶剂热法制备了均匀分散的纳米片组装的三维分级结构ZnO微米球。可控实验证明，HMTA和溶剂在分级结构微米球的形成中起重要作用。通过二维纳米片组装来构建三维分级结构，不仅增加了产品的比表面积，而且还建立了更多的电荷传输通道。在暗室下，该样品可作为吸附剂去除水溶液中的一些有机染料。吸附结果表明，纳米片组装的分级结构ZnO微球对阴离子染料具有良好的去除率和选择性。特殊的分级结构、较大的比表面积和静电引力的协同作用，使ZnO微球对代表性染料刚果红(CR)经过5次循环吸附后的去除率仍可达95.67%。动力学研究证实，CR在ZnO微球上的吸附为物理吸附，符合准二级动力学和Langmuir等温线模型。     

基于水滴模板法的微纳复合超疏水结构制备的研究

利用粒子辅助水滴模板法的实施获得规则蜂窝状图案化多孔结构模板,并进一步利用聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)复制转移技术获得表面具有微米尺寸蜂窝状突起阵列的反向图案化结构.以这种图案化突起结构作为微米尺寸所提供的微米级粗糙度为基础,设计了2种的简单的二次纳米结构的引入过程,最终实现了微米级阵列和纳米级粗糙度的复合.第一种方法借助银镜反应来实现纳米银结构的化学沉积,最终在PDMS阵列表面获得了致密的纳米银颗粒沉积层,并成功获得了表面接触角达166度的超疏水性质.第二种方法利用了聚电解质/二氧化硅粒子层层静电自组装的方法引入纳米结构,结果在仅仅进行了2个组装循环的条件下即可获得超疏水性质的表面复合结构.通过简单的实验设计试图提供一种基于水滴模板法的微纳复合超疏水结构的普适性制备方法.     

用于去除有机染料的分级结构ZnO微球的简便合成

以六亚甲基四胺(HMTA)为结构导向剂,采用乙二醇辅助的溶剂热法制备了均匀分散的纳米片组装的三维分级结构ZnO微米球。可控实验证明,HMTA和溶剂在分级结构微米球的形成中起重要作用。通过二维纳米片组装来构建三维分级结构,不仅增加了产品的比表面积,而且还建立了更多的电荷传输通道。在暗室下,该样品可作为吸附剂去除水溶液中的一些有机染料。吸附结果表明,纳米片组装的分级结构ZnO微球对阴离子染料具有良好的去除率和选择性。特殊的分级结构、较大的比表面积和静电引力的协同作用,使ZnO微球对代表性染料刚果红(CR)经过5次循环吸附后的去除率仍可达95.67%。动力学研究证实,CR在ZnO微球上的吸附为物理吸附,符合准二级动力学和Langmuir等温线模型。     

用于去除有机染料的分级结构ZnO微球的简便合成

以六亚甲基四胺(HMTA)为结构导向剂,采用乙二醇辅助的溶剂热法制备了均匀分散的纳米片组装的三维分级结构ZnO微米球。可控实验证明,HMTA和溶剂在分级结构微米球的形成中起重要作用。通过二维纳米片组装来构建三维分级结构,不仅增加了产品的比表面积,而且还建立了更多的电荷传输通道。在暗室下,该样品可作为吸附剂去除水溶液中的一些有机染料。吸附结果表明,纳米片组装的分级结构ZnO微球对阴离子染料具有良好的去除率和选择性。特殊的分级结构、较大的比表面积和静电引力的协同作用,使ZnO微球对代表性染料刚果红(CR)经过5次循环吸附后的去除率仍可达95.67%。动力学研究证实,CR在ZnO微球上的吸附为物理吸附,符合准二级动力学和Langmuir等温线模型。