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Published on: April 15, 2013
Hybrid MWCNTs membrane with well-tunable wettability
Yifan Si1, Fuchao Yang2, Zhiguang Guo1
1Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, People's Republic of China.
Researchers developed a flexible, tunable superhydrophobic membrane using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). This membrane
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Special wettability surfaces, including reversible and gradient types, are increasingly important in surface science.
- Developing facile and green methods for fabricating such surfaces is a key research challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate a superhydrophobic hybrid membrane with reversible and gradient wettability.
- To investigate the underlying principles of wettability switching and gradient formation.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a hybrid membrane using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on a mixed cellulose ester filter via a green, solvent-free route.
- Characterization of surface chemical composition and topography using Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
- Reversible wettability switching induced by acetic acid and ammonia vapors.
Main Results:
- Successful fabrication of a flexible and tailorable superhydrophobic hybrid MWCNTs membrane.
- Demonstration of reversible wettability switching between superhydrophobic (low adhesion) and hydrophobic (high adhesion) states using acetic acid and ammonia vapors without external energy.
- Achieved diverse ranges of gradient wettability on the fabricated membrane.
- Correlation of wettability properties with surface chemical composition and microscopic topography.
Conclusions:
- The developed method provides a facile and green approach to create functional surfaces with tunable wettability.
- The hybrid MWCNTs membrane exhibits promising properties for applications requiring switchable and gradient surfaces.
- This work addresses critical challenges in controlling surface wettability and offers potential solutions for advanced material applications.
