scholarly journals Biomimetic Wax Interfaces Facilitating Rehealable Polymer Composites

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 3052
Author(s):  
Ching-Te Kuo ◽  
Chien-Chin Chen

Epicuticular wax, the first protective film for numerous ground plant species, is crucial for modulating the evolution in plants. Since the waxy film is inherently thermoresponsive, many efforts focus on engineering materials for water/oil proofing, delivery, and collection, as well as microactuators by mimicking such film nature. Nonetheless, relatively fewer works address the mechanism of how the underlying substrates direct the reconstruction of waxy films while their temperature approaches the melting point. Here, we presented a strategy in which distinct frameworks of molten wax films could be examined among various substrates. Both “waxphobic” and “waxphilic” traits were first unveiled and could be achieved by the hydrophilic (water contact angle (WCA) = 42~82°) and hydrophobic (WCA = 109°) substrates, respectively. A theoretical model, based on experimental results, fluidic dynamics, and balance of surface energy, was developed to elucidate the above findings. Moreover, we demonstrated the above biomimetic epicuticular surface (BeSurface) can be applied for rewritable paper, erasable coding, and rehealable electronics without manual repairing. Remarkably, the healing time can be reduced down to 30 s, and the cycled folding test can be continued up to 500 times. All the new findings present the potentials of the BeSurface to improve the study of rehealable materials.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 4492-4497
Author(s):  
Eun Ae Shin ◽  
Gye Hyeon Kim ◽  
Jeyoung Jung ◽  
Sang Bong Lee ◽  
Chang Kee Lee

Hydrophobic ceramic coatings are used for a variety of applications. Generally, hydrophobic coating surfaces are obtained by reducing the surface energy of the coating material or by forming a highly textured surface. Reducing the surface energy of the coating material requires additional costs and processing and changes the surface properties of the ceramic coating. In this study, we introduce a simple method to improve the hydrophobicity of ceramic coatings by implementing a textured surface without chemical modification of the surface. The ceramic coating solution was first prepared by adding cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and then applied to a polypropylene (PP) substrate. The surface roughness increased as the amount of added CNFs increased, increasing the water contact angle of the surface. When the amount of CNFs added was corresponding to 10% of the solid content, the surface roughness average of the area was 43.8 μm. This is an increase of approximately 140% from 3.1 μm (the value of the surface roughness of the surface without added CNFs). In addition, the water contact angle of the coating with added CNF increased to 145.0°, which was 46% higher than that without the CNFs. The hydrophobicity of ceramic coatings with added CNFs was better because of changes in the surface topography. After coating and drying, the CNFs randomly accumulated inside the ceramic coating layer, forming a textured surface. Thus, hydrophobicity was improved by implementing a rugged ceramic surface without revealing the surface of the CNFs inside the ceramic layer.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 155892501601100
Author(s):  
Jinmei Du ◽  
Lulu Zhang ◽  
Jing Dong ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Changhai Xu ◽  
...  

Surface roughness and surface energy are two important factors affecting the hydrophobicity of nylon fabric. In this study, nylon fabric was treated for hydrophobicity with tetrabutyltitanate (TBT) and octadecylamine (OA) which were respectively responsible for increasing surface roughness and reducing surface energy. In order to enhance the hydrophobicity, In order to further enhance hydrophobicity by increasing available reactive sites, 1,2,3,4–butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) was applied as a pretreatment to the nylon fabric It was found that the carboxyl content of nylon was increased by the BTCA pretreatment. SEM images showed that the TBT treatment produced small particles on nylon fabric which made surface rough. The water contact angle of nylon fabric treated with BTCA, TBT and OA was measured to be 134°, which was much greater than the water contact angle of nylon fabric treated only with OA. This indicated that the surface roughness resulting from the TBT treatment played an important role in improving hydrophobicity of the treated nylon fabric. The resistance to water penetration and the repellency of water spray of nylon fabric treated with BTCA, TBT and OA were respectively measured to be 27.64 mbar and 85 out of 100.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 184798041770279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojiang Liu ◽  
Taizhou Tian ◽  
Jinlong Yao ◽  
Changgen Huang ◽  
Wenjun Tang ◽  
...  

A robust superhydrophobic organosilica sol-gel-based coating on a cotton fabric substrate was successfully fabricated via a cost-effective one-step method. The coating was prepared by modification of silica nanoparticles with siloxane having long alkyl chain that allow to reduce surface energy. The coating on cotton fabric exhibited water contact angle of 151.6°. The surface morphology was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, and surface chemical composition was measured with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results showed the enhanced superhydrophobicity that was attributed to the synergistic effect of roughness created by the random distribution of silica nanoparticles and the low surface energy imparted of long-chain alkane siloxane. In addition, the coating also showed excellent durability against washing treatments. Even after washed for 30 times, the specimen still had a water contact angle of 130°, indicating an obvious water-repellent property. With this outstanding property, the robust superhydrophobic coating exhibited a prospective application in textiles and plastics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (20) ◽  
pp. 3045-3049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérald Lopez ◽  
Marc Guerre ◽  
Bruno Améduri ◽  
Jean-Pierre Habas ◽  
Vincent Ladmiral

A 4-arm PVDF photocrosslinked coating displays outstanding adhesion properties to a metal surface, and tunable surface energy and water contact angle.


2017 ◽  
Vol 268 ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Syarinie Azmi ◽  
Ramli Arifin ◽  
Sib Krishna Ghoshal

Economically viable and maintenance free glass surfaces with improved hydrophobicity are highly demanding in the recent nanotechnology era. Deposition of pollutants and dirt on glass surface that not only causes visual obscurity but also damages the cultural heritages are still to be researched intensely. It is documented that excellent hydrophobic surfaces (with contact angle greater than 90o) can be achieved by controlling the surface wettability, where liquid droplets remain spherical on such surfaces. Selection of materials and the preparation method play a significant role towards such accomplishments. Stirred by this idea, we explored the feasibility of fabricating super-hydrophobic tellurite glass systems by facilely varying the compositions of different constituents. Highly transparent and thermally stable ternary tellurite glass system with chemical composition of (80-x)TeO2 – xSiO2 – 20ZnO, where x = 0.00 to 0.20 mol% are synthesized via conventional melt-quenching method. Samples are characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. The impact of SiO2 concentrations variation on the surface roughness, surface energy, and hydrophobic properties are inspected. Glass surface roughness as much as 9.885 nm is attained. The optimal value of water contact angle is discerned to be 101.02° for 0.1 mol% of SiO2 incorporation into the amorphous tellurite host matrix. Besides, the surface energy revealed an inverse proportionality to the water contact angle. This achieved contact angle (greater than 90°) makes this hydrophobic glass surface beneficial for diverse applications. It is established that the present glass composition may be prospective for the development of super-hydrophobic surfaces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-720
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ahsan Iqbal ◽  
Humaira Asghar ◽  
Michele Fedel

A protective CoAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) thin film was developed directly on the aluminum substrate. Further, the low-surface-energy molecules (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H perfluorododecyl trichlorosilane) were incorporated inside the LDH network through an anion exchange mechanism to obtain a superhydrophobic CoAl-LDH surface. The developed films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and additional contact angle measurements were made to evaluate the superhydrophobicity of modified CoAl-LDHs against different solutions. The water contact angle (WCA) of the modified CoAl-LDH surface was observed to be about 153° and remained sufficiently stable after long-term immersion in NaCl solution. The effect of excessive ultrasonication on film structural variations and superhydrophobicity was also analyzed for outdoor applications. The high charge transfer resistance observed from the analysis of long-term electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicates the significant corrosion-resistance properties of the developed CoAl-LDHs. This research on protective CoAl-LDHs will bring insights into the understanding of new aspects of surface protection and implementation in many engineering applications.


2011 ◽  
Vol 689 ◽  
pp. 445-449
Author(s):  
Chun Hong Qiu ◽  
Yu Hong Qi ◽  
Zhan Ping Zhang ◽  
Hui Gao

To develop non-toxic marine antifouling coating, a series of antifouling coatings were prepared based on fluorocarbon copolymer. Based on the measurement of roughness and water contact angle, the attachment test of marine diatom and bacteria before and after dynamic testing in seawater, it has been investigated that the influence of three functional fillings and silicone resin on the performance of the antifouling coatings with low surface energy. The erosion rate of the coatings was measured by the samples rotated 72h at the 12 knots of simulating sailing speed. The results showed that the roughness of coatings changes from 0.2um to 3um, it does influenced slightly by the rotating test. Water contact angle of all coatings is about 100° before rotating test. It decreases to about 70° after the rotating test in seawater. Due to the increase of surface energy of the coatings, both the amount of diatom and bacteria on samples increases after rotating test in seawater.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean H. Chang ◽  
Ian W Hunter

AbstractThe wettability of electrochemically deposited conducting polymer films is highly dependent on several parameters including the deposition conditions, the dopant, and the roughness of the working electrode. To produce superhydrophobic surfaces, one must be able to control the micro and nanostructure of the film. In this study, a template-free method of producing superhydrophobic (water contact angle of 154°) polypyrrole films was demonstrated. The polypyrrole was doped with the low surface-energy heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid and had microstructures with nanometer-scale roughness. The microstructures served to increase the roughness of the film and amplify the hydrophobicity of the surface. It is also of interest to be able to dynamically adjust the wettability of a polypyrrole surface after deposition. Applications of this functionality include microfluidics, self-cleaning surfaces, liquid lenses, and smart textiles. By oxidizing or reducing a polypyrrole film, one can change the surface morphology as well as the chemical composition, and control the wettability of the surface. This study characterizes the electrochemically-induced changes in surface energy of polypyrrole. The relationship between applied voltage, charge transferred, surface roughness, and water contact angle was investigated. Upon reduction, the polypyrrole film was switched to a superhydrophilic state and the maximum change in contact angle was observed to be 154°. Surface wettability was found to be not fully reversible, with some hysteresis occurring after the first electrochemical cycle.


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (19-20) ◽  
pp. 4015-4027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Yoon Kim ◽  
Changsang Yun ◽  
Chung Hee Park

This study aims to develop environment-friendly superhydrophobic textiles forming nanoparticles of polypropylene that have intrinsically low surface energy, and thus achieving the requirements for superhydrophobicity, such as hierarchical roughness and low surface energy at once. This work mainly studies the influences of tacticity (isotactic, atactic), concentration (10, 20, 30 and 40 mg/ml), drying temperature (30℃ and 70℃) and the mixing ratio of the solvent/non-solvent (9:1, 8:2, 7:3 and 6:4) on the coating morphology and wettability. In the case of isotactic polypropylene, the optimal condition showing the water contact angle of 173° and the water shedding angle of 4° was at 70℃ drying temperature, 30 mg/ml concentration and 6:4 solvent/non-solvent mixing ratio. Amorphous polypropylene showed the water contact angle of 163° and the water shedding angle of 9° at the condition of 30℃ drying temperature, 40 mg/ml concentration and 8:2 solvent/non-solvent mixing ratio. It was revealed that superhydrophobicity by amorphous polypropylene was exhibited at lower drying temperature and lower mixing ratio for the non-solvent. This is attributed to the different evaporation temperature or speed of the solvent/non-solvent mixing according to the tacticity of polypropylene. This study demonstrated that environmental-friendliness was improved in that superhydrophobic textiles were developed without fluorine compounds, maintaining vapor permeability. This study also developed a finishing method using amorphous polypropylene under a mild condition in terms of drying temperature and solvent toxicity, which is expected to be applicable not only to polyester but also to various fabrics.


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