title: Superhydrophobicity of PHBV fibrous surface with bead-on-string structure.
abstract: A poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) fibrous surface with various bead-on-string structures was fabricated by electrospinning. PHBV was electrospun at various concentrations and then CF4 plasma treatment was employed to further improve the hydrophobicity of the PHBV fiber surfaces. The surface morphology of the electrospun PHBV mats was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface properties were characterized by water contact angle (WCA) measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The surface morphology of the electrospun PHBV fibrous mats with the bead-son-string structure varied with the solution concentration. The WCA of all of the electrospun PHBV mats was higher than that of the PHBV film. In particular, a very rough fiber surface including porous beads was observed when PHBV was electrospun from the solution with a concentration of 26 wt%. Also, its WCA further increased from 141 degrees to 158 degrees after CF(4) plasma treatment for 150 s. PHBV can be rendered superhydrophobic by controlling the surface morphology and surface energy, which can be achieved by adjusting the electrospinning and plasma treatment conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced Organic Materials and Textile System Engineering and BK21 FTIT, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, South Korea.
authors.forename: Young Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Hyun Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Won Seok
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lyoo
authors.forename: Taek Seung
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Park