Biomimetic Superhydrophobic Films with an Extremely Low Roll-Off Angle Modified by F<sub>16</sub>CuPc via Two-Step Fabrication

Superhydrophobicity is the phenomenon of which the water contact angle (WCA) of droplets on a solid surface is greater than 150°. In the present paper, we prepare a superhydrophobic film with a structure similar to the surface of a lotus leaf, which is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), zinc o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pengchao Zhou, Tengda Hu, Yachen Xu, Xiang Li, Wei Shi, Yang Lin, Tao Xu, Bin Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-03-01
Series:Nanomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/6/953
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Summary:Superhydrophobicity is the phenomenon of which the water contact angle (WCA) of droplets on a solid surface is greater than 150°. In the present paper, we prepare a superhydrophobic film with a structure similar to the surface of a lotus leaf, which is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), zinc oxide (ZnO), a molecular sieve (MS) and 1,2,3,4,8,9,10,11,15,16,17,18,22,23,24,25-hexadecafluorophthalocyanine copper(II) (F<sub>16</sub>CuPc). The F<sub>16</sub>CuPc was used as the modifier to reduce the surface energy of the biomimetic micro-nanostructure. With the introduction of F<sub>16</sub>CuPc, the superhydrophobic properties of the surface were enhanced so that the WCA and water roll-off angle could reach 167.1° and 0.5°, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses verified that the enhanced superhydrophobic properties of the film were mainly attributed to the modification of F<sub>16</sub>CuPc. Finally, thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability studies, as well as the influences of UV and underwater immersion on the superhydrophobic film were investigated. This developed two-step fabrication method may be a potential direction for superhydrophobic surface fabrication due to its simple process, excellent superhydrophobic property, and favorable stability.
ISSN:2079-4991