Superhydrophobicity: drying transition of confined water.
Long-range hydrophobic interactions operating underwater are important in the mediation of many natural and synthetic phenomena, such as protein folding, adhesion and colloid stability. Here we show that rough hydrophobic surfaces can experience attractive forces over distances more than 30 times greater than any reported previously, owing to the spontaneous evaporation of the intervening, confined water. Our finding highlights the importance of surface roughness in the interaction of extended structures in water, which has so far been largely overlooked.
Singh
Seema
S
Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
Houston
Jack
J
van Swol
Frank
F
Brinker
C Jeffrey
CJ
D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D044367:Phase Transition; D013499:Surface Properties; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D014867:Water