Exploiting the hierarchical morphology of single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotube films for highly hydrophobic coatings

Self-assembled hierarchical solid surfaces are very interesting for wetting phenomena, as observed in a variety of natural and artificial surfaces. Here, we report single-walled (SWCNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) thin films realized by a simple, rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive fil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Beilstein journal of nanotechnology 2015-02, Vol.6 (1), p.353-360
Main Authors: De Nicola, Francesco, Castrucci, Paola, Scarselli, Manuela, Nanni, Francesca, Cacciotti, Ilaria, De Crescenzi, Maurizio
Format: Article
Language:English
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hierarchical structures
hydrophobic surfaces
multi-walled carbon nanotube
Nanoscience
Nanotechnology
single-walled carbon nanotube
wetting transitions
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Summary:Self-assembled hierarchical solid surfaces are very interesting for wetting phenomena, as observed in a variety of natural and artificial surfaces. Here, we report single-walled (SWCNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) thin films realized by a simple, rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive filtration process from an aqueous dispersion, that was deposited at room temperature by a dry-transfer printing method on glass. Furthermore, the investigation of carbon nanotube films through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the multi-scale hierarchical morphology of the self-assembled carbon nanotube random networks. Moreover, contact angle measurements show that hierarchical SWCNT/MWCNT composite surfaces exhibit a higher hydrophobicity (contact angles of up to 137°) than bare SWCNT (110°) and MWCNT (97°) coatings, thereby confirming the enhancement produced by the surface hierarchical morphology.
ISSN:2190-4286
2190-4286
DOI:10.3762/bjnano.6.34