Issue 27, 2009

Superhydrophobic waxy-dendron-grafted polymer films viananostructure manipulation

Abstract

To imitate the superhydrophobicity of salient epicuticular wax on lotus leaves (hereafter “Lotus effect”), waxy dendrons were synthesized and subsequently grafted on amine-containing polystyrenes. To achieve a low surface energy and a specific surface morphology, the waxy dendron design is composed of two parts—the focal part possessing plenty of hydrogen bonding sites, and the peripheral part rich in van der Waals forces. The enhanced van der Waals force accompanied with increasing generation of dendrons helps induce self-assembly and phase separation in the preparation process of the polymer films. By different coating processes, three different films (thin film, honeycomb-like film, and three-dimensional rod-co-valley-like film) were obtained with contact angles of 95°, 130°, and 165°, respectively. The three-dimensional rod-co-valley film samples were able to imitate the superhydrophobic property (i.e. Lotus effect), as well as utilize the built-in strong hydrogen bonds to adhere water droplets on surfaces or substrates.

Graphical abstract: Superhydrophobic waxy-dendron-grafted polymer films viananostructure manipulation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Jan 2009
Accepted
23 Apr 2009
First published
28 May 2009

J. Mater. Chem., 2009,19, 4819-4828

Superhydrophobic waxy-dendron-grafted polymer films viananostructure manipulation

W. Ting, C. Chen, S. A. Dai, S. Suen, I. Yang, Y. Liu, F. M. C. Chen and R. Jeng, J. Mater. Chem., 2009, 19, 4819 DOI: 10.1039/B900468H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Spotlight

Advertisements