Electrowetting of superhydrophobic ZnO nanorods

This paper reports the electrowetting properties of ZnO nanorods. These nanorods were grown on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates using different liquid-phase deposition techniques and hydrophobized with sputtered Teflon. The surfaces display superhydrophobic properties. When the applied voltages are less than 35 V, the contact angle change is small and exhibits instant reversibility. For higher voltages, larger contact angle changes were observed. However, the surface was not reversible after removing the applied voltage and required mechanical agitation to return to its initial superhydrophobic state.