TY - JOUR
T1 - Controlling water adhesion on superhydrophobic surfaces with bi-functional polymers
AU - Arisawa, Daiki
AU - Umetsu, Yasushi
AU - Yoshizawa, Atsushi
AU - Hill, Christopher
AU - Eastoe, Julian
AU - Guittard, Frédéric
AU - Darmanin, Thierry
AU - Sagisaka, Masanobu
PY - 2021/5/5
Y1 - 2021/5/5
N2 - With an aim to control the surface hydrophobicity and water adhesion, as observed on various natural surfaces, novel 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) monomers having one and two 3-trimethylsilylpropyl (TMS) groups were synthesized and subjected to electropolymerization to form surface coatings. The monomer ProDOT is employed owing to its tendency to form fibrous structures by electropolymerization [T. Darmanin, F. Guittard, Mater. Chem. Phys. 146 (2014) 6–11], whereas the TMS groups generate very low surface energies comparable to short chain fluorocarbons [N. M. Kovalchuk, et al., Colloids Surfaces A 604 (2020) 125277.]. It is shown that even though these two types of monomer lead to fibrous structures, the dimensions of the fibers as well as the wetting properties are different. The monomer with only a single TMS group (ProDOTSiMe3) generates extremely long nanofibers with only low surface roughness. The resulting surfaces have extremely high apparent contact angles (θw) up to 141.7° and strong water adhesion, similar to rose petals or gecko feet. On the other hand, the analogue with two TMS groups (ProDOT(SiMe3)2) forms short nanofibers but with extremely high surface roughness. The resulting surfaces are superhydrophobic with θw > 160° and ultra-low water adhesion (hysteresis and sliding angles < 1°), similar to lotus leaves. These results point to interesting applications offering control over water adhesion whilst maintaining high hydrophobicity.
AB - With an aim to control the surface hydrophobicity and water adhesion, as observed on various natural surfaces, novel 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) monomers having one and two 3-trimethylsilylpropyl (TMS) groups were synthesized and subjected to electropolymerization to form surface coatings. The monomer ProDOT is employed owing to its tendency to form fibrous structures by electropolymerization [T. Darmanin, F. Guittard, Mater. Chem. Phys. 146 (2014) 6–11], whereas the TMS groups generate very low surface energies comparable to short chain fluorocarbons [N. M. Kovalchuk, et al., Colloids Surfaces A 604 (2020) 125277.]. It is shown that even though these two types of monomer lead to fibrous structures, the dimensions of the fibers as well as the wetting properties are different. The monomer with only a single TMS group (ProDOTSiMe3) generates extremely long nanofibers with only low surface roughness. The resulting surfaces have extremely high apparent contact angles (θw) up to 141.7° and strong water adhesion, similar to rose petals or gecko feet. On the other hand, the analogue with two TMS groups (ProDOT(SiMe3)2) forms short nanofibers but with extremely high surface roughness. The resulting surfaces are superhydrophobic with θw > 160° and ultra-low water adhesion (hysteresis and sliding angles < 1°), similar to lotus leaves. These results point to interesting applications offering control over water adhesion whilst maintaining high hydrophobicity.
KW - Electropolymerization
KW - Parahydrophobicity
KW - Superhydrophobicity
KW - Surface roughness
KW - Trimethyl silyl group
KW - Water adhesion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101280001&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.126307
DO - 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2021.126307
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
AN - SCOPUS:85101280001
SN - 0927-7757
VL - 616
JO - Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
JF - Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
M1 - 126307
ER -