title: Preparation and hydrophobicity of biomorphic ZnO/carbon based on a lotus-leaf template.
abstract: A lotus leaf was used as a template to fabricate superhydrophobic biomorphic ZnO on a carbon substrate (ZnO/C). First, a carbon substrate with the microstructure of a leaf surface was obtained by sintering a lotus leaf in argon. A biomorphic ZnO/C material was then obtained by immersing this carbon substrate into a Zn(NO3)2 solution and sintering. Finally, the hydrophobicity of the surfaces of the products thus obtained was investigated. This ZnO/C material exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity and low adhesion after it was modified with fluorine silane. The water contact angle of the resulting product was 162°, which exceeds that of the lotus leaf (157°) and is much higher than that of smooth carbon covered with the same fluorine silane (114°). Moreover, this surface displayed a stable superhydrophobic performance even after exposure to ambient air for several months.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China. Electronic address: tianchiwang@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Tianchi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Lijing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E4, Canada.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hatton
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, 200 Xiaolingwei Street, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Dangsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 771 Ferst Drive, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA. Electronic address: cp.wong@mse.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Chingping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wong
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon; D015034:Zinc Oxide
keywords: Bio-inspired; Plant leaf; Superhydrophobicity; Template; Zinc oxide