Universal, geometry-driven hydrophobic behaviour of bare metal nanowire clusters
- 31 January 2008
- journal article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Nanotechnology
- Vol. 19 (7), 075709
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/19/7/075709
Abstract
A parallel array of isolated metal nanowires is expected to be hydrophilic. We show, however, that a clustering of such nanowires brought about by vacuum drying produces a 'dual-scale roughness' and confers a strongly hydrophobic property to the surface. The mean size of the nanowire clusters as well as the contact angle are both found to be related to the wire length, and the critical wire length above which the surface becomes hydrophobic is ≈10 µm. Surface roughness is generally known to enhance water-repellent properties, but this is the first report of roughness-induced hydrophobicity on a bare (uncoated) metallic surface.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- One‐Step Solution‐Immersion Process for the Fabrication of Stable Bionic Superhydrophobic SurfacesAdvanced Materials, 2006
- Microscopic observations of condensation of water on lotus leavesApplied Physics Letters, 2005
- Self-assembled ZnO agave-like nanowires and anomalous superhydrophobicityJournal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2005
- On water repellencySoft Matter, 2005
- Is the lotus leaf superhydrophobic?Applied Physics Letters, 2005
- Dual‐Scale Roughness Produces Unusually Water‐Repellent SurfacesAdvanced Materials, 2004
- Reversible Super-hydrophobicity to Super-hydrophilicity Transition of Aligned ZnO Nanorod FilmsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2003
- Multiple Equilibrium Droplet Shapes and Design Criterion for Rough Hydrophobic SurfacesLangmuir, 2003
- On the Modeling of Hydrophobic Contact Angles on Rough SurfacesLangmuir, 2003
- Rough ideas on wettingPhysica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2002