On the Wettability of Nanocomposite Amorphous Carbon Films

Author(s):  
P. Zhang ◽  
B.K. Tay ◽  
G.Q. Yu ◽  
S.P. Lau

Nanocomposite Si containing amorphous carbon (a-C:Si) and metal containing amorphous carbon (a-C:Me) films including a-C:Al, a-C:Ti, and a-C:Ni were prepared by the filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique The metal-carbon (5 at.% metal) composite targets were used. The VCA Optima system was used to measure the contact angle. Three types of liquid were used to study the changes in the surface energy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to analyze the composition and chemical state of the films. The surface morphology and roughness of the films were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The Al containing films show the highest contact angle with water, which reaches as high as 101.26°. The Si containing films show the lowest contact angle around 64°. The contact angles of Ni, and Ti containing films are around 83°, 96.5°, respectively. The absorption of oxygen on the surface play an important role on the polar component of the a-C:Me films. The formation of Al-O, and Ti-O bonds is responsible for the lower polar component. The metal state Ni results in higher polar component. The Si-O bond contributes to the high polar component of a-C:Si film. As all films are atomic scale smooth, the RMS roughness is below 0.5 nm, the roughness does not have obvious effect on the surface energy.

2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (06n07) ◽  
pp. 1031-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. CHEN ◽  
S. P. LAU ◽  
Z. SUN ◽  
G. Y. CHEN ◽  
Y. J. LI ◽  
...  

Ta-C and iron containing amorphous carbon (a-C:Fe) films were deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc technique. The influences of Fe contents on the wettability of the films were investigated in terms of surface energy. The surface energy of a-C:Fe films was determined by the contact angle measurement. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray induced photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to analyze the origin of the variation of surface energy with various Fe content. It is found that the contact angle for water increases significantly after incorporating Fe into the films and the films become hydrophobic. The roughness of these films has a little effect on the contact angle. The surface energy is reduced after incorporating Fe into the a-C film which is due to the reduction of both dispersive and polar component. The reduction in dispersive component is ascribed to the decrease of atomic density of the a-C:Fe films due to the increase in sp2 bonded carbon. The absorption of oxygen on the surface play an important role in the reduction of polar component for the a-C:Fe films. It is proposed that such network as (Ca-O-Fe)-O-(Fe-O-Ca) may be formed and responsible for the reduction of polar component.


1995 ◽  
Vol 383 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Houston ◽  
R. T. Howe ◽  
K Komvopoulos ◽  
R. Maboudian

ABSTRACTThe surface properties of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films deposited by a vacuum arc technique on smooth silicon wafers are presented with specific emphasis given to stiction reduction in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The low deposition temperatures afforded by the vacuum arc technique should allow for easy integration of the DLC films into the current fabrication process of typical surface micromachines by means of a standard lift-off processing technique. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle analysis, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the surface chemistry, microroughness, hydrophobicity, and adhesion forces of DLC-coated Si(100) surfaces were measured and correlated to the measured water contact angles. DLC films were found to be extremely smooth and possess a water contact angle of 87°, which roughly corresponds to a surface energy of 22 mJ/m2. It is shown that the pull-off forces measured by AFM correlate well with the predicted capillary forces. Pull-off forces are reduced on DLC surfaces by about a factor of five compared to 10 nN pull-off forces measured on the RCA-cleaned silicon surfaces. In the absence of meniscus forces, the overall adhesion force is expected to decrease by over an order of magnitude to the van der Waals attractive force present between two DLC-coated surfaces- To further improve the surface properties of DLC, films were exposed to a fluorine plasma which increased the contact angle to 99° and lowered the pull-off force by approximately 20% over that obtained with as-deposited DLC. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to stiction reduction in micromachines.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Silva-Bermudez ◽  
S. Muhl ◽  
M. Rivera ◽  
S. E. Rodil

ABSTRACTIn the present work, the adsorption of albumin and fibrinogen on Ta, Nb, Ti and Zr oxidesthin films deposited on Si (100) wafers by magnetron sputtering was studied in order to get a better understanding of the correlation among the surface properties of these oxides and the protein adsorption phenomena on their surfaces. The surface energy, hydrophobicity, chemical composition, roughness and atomic order of the films were characterized. The films were immersedfor 45 minutes in single protein solutions; either albumin or fibrinogenand the adsorbed protein layer on the films was studied ex-situ in a dry ambient using bothX-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.The adsorption of albumin and fibrinogen on the films modified the surface morphology and decreased the surface roughness for all the four different metal oxides. The XPS results confirmed the presence of the protein on the surface of the films and showed that the two proteins studied were adsorbed without undergoing a major chemical decomposition. A correlation between the surface roughness,the polar component of the surface energy of the films and the atomic percentage of nitrogen on the films after protein adsorption, an indirect signal of the amount of protein adsorbed, was found for albumin and fibrinogen adsorption on Ta, Nb and Ti oxides; the largest the roughness or the polar component the largest amount of adsorbed protein.


Polymers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunfang Zhu ◽  
Haitao Yang ◽  
Hongbo Liang ◽  
Zhengyue Wang ◽  
Jun Dong ◽  
...  

Low surface energy materials have attracted much attention due to their properties and various applications. In this work, we synthesized and characterized a series of ultraviolet (UV)-curable fluorinated siloxane polymers with various fluorinated acrylates—hexafluorobutyl acrylate, dodecafluoroheptyl acrylate, and trifluorooctyl methacrylate—grafted onto a hydrogen-containing poly(dimethylsiloxane) backbone. The structures of the fluorinated siloxane polymers were measured and confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Then the polymers were used as surface modifiers of UV-curable commercial polyurethane (DR-U356) at different concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 wt %). Among three formulations of these fluorinated siloxane polymers modified with DR-U356, hydrophobic states (91°, 92°, and 98°) were obtained at low concentrations (1 wt %). The DR-U356 resin is only in the hydrophilic state at 59.41°. The fluorine and siloxane element contents were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the results indicated that the fluorinated and siloxane elements were liable to migrate to the surface of resins. The results of the friction recovering assays showed that the recorded contact angles of the series of fluorinated siloxane resins were higher than the original values after the friction-annealing progressing.


MRS Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (57-58) ◽  
pp. 3379-3390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saaketh R. Narayan ◽  
Jack M. Day ◽  
Harshini L. Thinakaran ◽  
Nicole Herbots ◽  
Michelle E. Bertram ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe effects of crystal orientation and doping on the surface energy, γT, of native oxides of Si(100) and Si(111) are measured via Three Liquid Contact Angle Analysis (3LCAA) to extract γT, while Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) is used to detect Oxygen. During 3LCAA, contact angles for three liquids are measured with photographs via the “Drop and Reflection Operative Program (DROP™). DROP™ removes subjectivity in image analysis, and yields reproducible contact angles within < ±1°. Unlike to the Sessile Drop Method, DROP can yield relative errors < 3% on sets of 20-30 drops. Native oxides on 5 x 1013 B/cm3 p- doped Si(100) wafers, as received in sealed, 25 wafer teflon boats continuously stored in Class 100/ISO 5 conditions at 24.5°C in 25% controlled humidity, are found to be hydrophilic. Their γT, 52.5 ± 1.5 mJ/m2, is reproducible between four boats from three sources, and 9% greater than γT of native oxides on n- doped Si(111), which averages 48.1 ± 1.6 mJ/m2 on four 4” Si(111) wafers. IBA combining 16O nuclear resonance with channeling detects 30% more oxygen on native oxides of Si(111) than Si(100). While γT should increase on thinner, more defective oxides, Lifshitz-Van der Waals interactions γLW on native oxides of Si(100) remain at 36 ± 0.4 mJ/m2, equal to γLW on Si(111), 36 ± 0.6 mJ/m2, since γLW arises from the same SiO2 molecules. Native oxides on 4.5 x 1018 B/cm3 p+ doped Si(100) yield a γT of 39 ± 1 mJ/m2, as they are thicker per IBA. In summary, 3LCAA and IBA can detect reproducibly and accurately, within a few %, changes in the surface energy of native oxides due to thickness and surface composition arising from doping or crystal structure, if conducted in well controlled clean room conditions for measurements and storage.


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 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami-Seppo Ovaska ◽  
Pavel Geydt ◽  
Ringaudas Rinkunas ◽  
Tadeusz Lozovski ◽  
Robertas Maldzius ◽  
...  

Dispersion coating layers consisting of hydroxypropylated starch, 0–30 pph of barrier-grade talc and 0–10 pph of styrene-butadiene latex were subjected to both positive and negative direct-current corona treatments utilizing a specially developed dynamic treatment unit. The effects of the surface composition (barrier coating) on the response to the direct current corona treatment were evaluated by measuring contact angles and determining the surface energy. The effects of corona treatment on the properties of the barrier coating were further determined by measuring the contact angle of rapeseed oil and the grease resistance. It was found that the grease resistance of the corona-treated barrier coatings was substantially lower than that of untreated samples, which was ascribed to holes caused by corona discharge strike-through and to chemical changes on the treated surfaces. The corona treatment lowered the surface energy of the coatings, as indicated by an increase in the contact angles of water and rapeseed oil. Changes in the dispersion part of the surface energy were recorded, particularly after positive treatment voltage, whereas a negative discharge led to greater changes in the polar part of the surface energy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) tests revealed an increase in the proportion of talc at the surface after corona treatment, which indicates a migration caused by the applied electric field. The peak force tapping mode of an atomic force microscope revealed moderate topographical changes in the coatings and a decrease in surface elasticity, supporting the migration of talc particles. In addition, significant changes in the physicochemical properties of the untreated reverse side were observed.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Veronesi ◽  
Giulio Boveri ◽  
Mariarosa Raimondo

The search for surfaces with non-wetting behavior towards water and low-surface tension liquids affects a wide range of industries. Surface wetting is regulated by morphological and chemical features interacting with liquid phases under different ambient conditions. Most of the approaches to the fabrication of liquid-repellent surfaces are inspired by living organisms and require the fabrication of hierarchically organized structures, coupled with low surface energy chemical composition. This paper deals with the design of amphiphobic metals (AM) and alloys by deposition of nano-oxides suspensions in alcoholic or aqueous media, coupled with perfluorinated compounds and optional infused lubricant liquids resulting in, respectively, solid–liquid–air and solid–liquid–liquid working interfaces. Nanostructured organic/inorganic hybrid coatings with contact angles against water above 170°, contact angle with n-hexadecane (surface tension γ = 27 mN/m at 20 °C) in the 140–150° range and contact angle hysteresis lower than 5° have been produced. A full characterization of surface chemistry has been undertaken by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, while field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) observations allowed the estimation of coatings thicknesses (300–400 nm) and their morphological features. The durability of fabricated amphiphobic surfaces was also assessed with a wide range of tests that showed their remarkable resistance to chemically aggressive environments, mechanical stresses and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Moreover, this work analyzes the behavior of amphiphobic surfaces in terms of anti-soiling, snow-repellent and friction-reduction properties—all originated from their non-wetting behavior. The achieved results make AM materials viable solutions to be applied in different sectors answering several and pressing technical needs.


2005 ◽  
Vol 284-286 ◽  
pp. 357-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis M. Rodríguez-Lorenzo ◽  
Blanca Vázquez ◽  
Julio San Román

Hydroxyapatite has been frequently described as an osteoconductive but not osteoinductive material based on failure to observe bone formation in nonbony sites. Bisphosphonates (BPs) are stable pyrophosphate analogs, that enhance the proliferation, differentiation and bone forming activity of osteoblasts and are potent inhibitors of bone resorption. In this paper, the modification of a calcium hydroxyfluor carbonate apatite with sodium alendronate and (4-(aminomethyl)benzene)bisphosphonic acid is described. The surface modification is carried out by refluxing the apatite in a bisphosphonate acetone solution. Modified particles are characterized by thermal analysis, ATR-IR spectroscopy and contact angle between other techniques. A weight loss between 150 and 500°C can be observed for the modified apatites. IR spectra show the appearance of bisphosphonate bands on modified powders. The surface energy of the modified apatite is reduced up to a 74% from the total apatite value after the alendronate surface modification with a decrease of 58% of the polar component main responsible of the cellular interaction of biomaterials.


Author(s):  
Magomed Pashevich Dokhov

The article uses the thermodynamics of interfacial phenomena to justify the fact that Young’s equations can correctly describe the three-phase equilibrium with any type of interatomic bonds. Wetting, adhesion, dissolution, surface adsorption, and other surface phenomena are important characteristics, whichlargely determine the quality and durability of materials, and the development of a number of production techniques, including welding, soldering, baking of metallic and non-metallic powders, etc. Therefore, it is important to study them.Using experimental data regarding surface energies of liquids (melts) and contact angles available in the literature, we calculated the surface energies of many solid metals, oxides, carbides, and other inorganic and organic materials without taking into account the amount of the interfacial energy at the solid-liquid (melt) interface. Some researchers assumed that in case of an acute contact angle the interfacial energy is low. Therefore, they neglected it and assumed it to be zero.Others knew that this value could not be measured, that is why they measured and calculated the difference between the surface energy of a solid and the interfacial energy of a solid and a liquid (melt), which is equal to the product of the surface energy of this liquid by the cosine of the contact angle. It is obvious that these methods of determining the surface energy based on such oversimplified assumptions result in poor accuracy.Through the use of examples this paper shows how the surface energies of solids were previously calculated and how the shortcomings of previous calculations can be corrected


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