Issue 5, 2018

Smart zwitterionic sulfobetaine silane surfaces with switchable wettability for aqueous/nonaqueous drops

Abstract

Smart surfaces with switchable wettability for both aqueous and non-aqueous drops based on zwitterionic sulfobetaine silane (SBSi) have been fabricated. The wettability transition occurs from a total wetting (contact angle, CA ≈ 0°) to a partial wetting (CA as high as ∼75°) state. A surfactant solution (aqueous or non-aqueous) rinse (for 5 s) acts as a stimulus and the reversal of surface wettability is achieved simply by a pure water rinse. The reversible behavior of the switchable wettability of a SBSi surface can be observed for at least 100 cycles. Various cationic surfactants are used as stimuli for aqueous drops and anionic surfactants are employed for non-aqueous drops. This unique wettability-switching property is attributed to basal surfactant adsorption driven by electrostatic attractions between the charged surfactant head groups and zwitterionic groups of SBSi. Such rapid surfactant adsorption is also responsible for intriguing drop fission and dewetting phenomena, shown by stimulus drops cast on clean SBSi surfaces. Thus, this smart switchable wettability surface can be employed to fabricate intelligent devices for controlling mobility and sensing.

Graphical abstract: Smart zwitterionic sulfobetaine silane surfaces with switchable wettability for aqueous/nonaqueous drops

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Oct 2017
Accepted
19 Dec 2017
First published
19 Dec 2017

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 2279-2288

Smart zwitterionic sulfobetaine silane surfaces with switchable wettability for aqueous/nonaqueous drops

V. Singh, C. Huang, Y. Sheng and H. Tsao, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 2279 DOI: 10.1039/C7TA09475B

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.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements