title: Tunable wettability and rewritable wettability gradient from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity.
abstract: A simple method for the fabrication of tunable surfaces with wettability that can be manipulated rapidly and reversibly from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity is reported. A polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) was deposited on a rough substrate, and via ion exchange of the counterion in the PEM, the water contact angle of the surface was switched between <5 degrees and 164 degrees. By controlling the ion-exchange kinetics, on the same surface, completely erasable, rewritable gradient wettability from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity was conveniently achieved.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, PR China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007700:Kinetics; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D011108:Polymers