Polycyclopentene‐Crystal‐Decorated Carbon Nanotubes by Convenient Large‐Scale In Situ Polymerization and their Lotus‐Leaf‐Like Superhydrophobic Films

In situ Pd‐catalyzed cyclopentene polymerization in the presence of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is demonstrated to effectively render, on a large scale, polycyclopentene‐crystal‐decorated MWCNTs. Controlling the catalyst loading and/or time in the polymerization offers a convenient tuning of the polymer content and the morphology of the decorated MWCNTs. Appealingly, films made of the decorated carbon nanotubes through simple vacuum filtration show the characteristic lotus‐leaf‐like superhydrophobicity with high water contact angle (>150°), low contact angle hysteresis (<10°), and low water adhesion, while being electrically conductive. This is the first demonstration of the direct fabrication of lotus‐leaf‐like superhydrophobic films with solution‐grown polymer‐crystal‐decorated carbon nanotubes.