Reversible super-hydrophobicity to super-hydrophilicity transition of aligned ZnO nanorod films.
Remarkable surface wettability transition occurs with an inducement of ultraviolet (UV) for aligned ZnO nanorod films. The inorganic oxide films, which show super-hydrophobicity (left), become super-hydrophilic (right) when exposed to UV illumination. After the films are placed in the dark, the wettability evolves back to super-hydrophobicity. This reversible effect is ascribed to the cooperation of the surface photosensitivity and the aligned nanostructure. Such special property will greatly extend the applications of ZnO films.
Feng
Xinjian
X
Center for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, P. R. China.
Feng
Lin
L
Jin
Meihua
M
Zhai
Jin
J
Jiang
Lei
L
Zhu
Daoben
D