Applied Surface Science, Vol.385, 80-87, 2016
A feasible electrochemical method for tuning coatings wettability from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity
A feasible electrochemical method for controlling arbitrarily the surface wettability between superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity was presented in details. A series of composited polythiophene films (PL-PEDOT) with wettability from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity were readily fabricated by tuning precisely the electrodeposition charge (EC) of overlying hydrophobic poly(2,2'-bithiophene) (PLTH) moieties on the underlying poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) moieties. The various wettability of the resulting PL-PEDOT film could be attributed to the combination of the conducting and porous nanostructure of PEDOT films and the flexible electrodeposition strategy. The wettability change of PL-PEDOT films is also companied by the changes in their spectral colors. This electrochemical method could present a feasible technique for the preparation of various wettability surfaces in practical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Electrochemical polymerization;Superhydrophilicity;Superhydrophobicity;Polythiophene film;Tunable wettability