Surfaces with self-repairable ultrahydrophobicity based on self-organizing freely floating colloidal particles.
We report an approach for the design of materials with self-repairable ultrahydrophobic properties. The materials are based on highly fluorinated crystalline fusible wax with incorporated colloidal particles. Due to the highly pronounced tendency of the wax to crystallize, the formation of blends with rough fractal surfaces was observed. In order to prove their self-repairing ability, we mechanically damaged them by scratching, which removed most of the particles from the surface. Melting of the damaged blend resulted in reorganization of the particles at the wax-air interface, restoring the initial structure and thus the ultrahydrophobic behavior.
Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
Nikolay
N
Puretskiy
Georgi
G
Stoychev
Alla
A
Synytska
Leonid
L
Ionov