Robust hydrophobic gold, glass and polypropylene surfaces obtained through a nanometric covalently bound organic layer

• Published in: RSC advances 2020-04, Vol.1 (23), p.13553-13561
• Main Authors: Mattiuzzi, Alice, Troian-Gautier, Ludovic, Mertens, Jérémy, Reniers, François, Bergamini, Jean-François, Lenne, Quentin, Lagrost, Corinne, Jabin, Ivan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aromatic compounds; Atomic force microscopy; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Contact angle; Ellipsometry; Glass; Gold; Hydrophobicity; Material chemistry; Monolayers; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Photoelectrons; Polypropylene; Robustness; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d0ra01011a

The (electro)chemical grafting of a polyfluorinated calix[4]arene on gold, polypropylene and glass is reported. The modified surfaces were characterized by ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A nanometric, robust and uniform monolayer of covalently surface-bound calix[4]arenes was obtained on the three different materials. For all surfaces, contact angles higher than 110° were recorded, highlighting the hydrophobic character given by this 2 nm thin organic monolayer. Remarkably, the contact angle values remained unchanged after 18 months under a laboratory atmosphere. The results presented herein thus present an attractive and sustainable strategy for bringing hydrophobic properties to the interface of a wide range of materials. The grafting of a polyfluorinated calix[4]arene-tetradiazonium derivative on various surfaces led to the formation of very robust and stable hydrophobic monolayers.