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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications
Published on: August 15, 2018
Under-Oil Switchable Superhydrophobicity to Superhydrophilicity Transition on TiO2 Nanotube Arrays
Hongjun Kang1, Yuyan Liu1, Hua Lai1
1MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Recently, smart interfacial materials that can reversibly transit between the superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity have aroused much attention. However, all present performances happen in air, and to realize such a smart transition in complex environments, such as oil, is still a challenge. Herein, TiO2 nanotube arrays with switchable transition between the superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity in oil are reported. The switching can be observed by alternation of UV irradiation and heating process, and the smart controllability can be ascribed to the cooperative effect between the surface nanostructures and the chemical composition variation. By using the controllable wetting performances, some applications such as under-oil droplet-based microreaction and water-removal from oil were demonstrated on our surface. This paper reports a surface with smart water wettability in oil, which could start some fresh ideas for wetting control on interfacial materials.
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