title: Direct insight into the three-dimensional internal morphology of solid-liquid-vapor interfaces at microscale.
abstract: Solid-liquid-vapor interfaces dominated by the three-phase contact line, usually performing as the active center in reactions, are important in biological and industrial processes. In this contribution, we provide direct three-dimensional (3D) experimental evidence for the inside morphology of interfaces with either Cassie or Wenzel states at micron level using X-ray micro-computed tomography, which allows us to accurately "see inside" the morphological structures and quantitatively visualize their internal 3D fine structures and phases in intact samples. Furthermore, the in-depth measurements revealed that the liquid randomly and partly located on the top of protrusions on the natural and artificial superhydrophobic surfaces in Cassie regime, resulting from thermodynamically optimal minimization of the surface energy. These new findings are useful for the optimization of classical wetting theories and models, which should promote the surface scientific and technological developments.
authors: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (P.R. China).
authors: Shuai
authors: S
authors: Yang
authors: Jiexing
authors: J
authors: Du
authors: Moyuan
authors: M
authors: Cao
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Yao
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Ju
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Jin
authors: Bin
authors: B
authors: Su
authors: Kesong
authors: K
authors: Liu
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Jiang
mesh_terms: D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D017155:Wettability; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D014867:Water
keywords: Cassie and Wenzel states; micro-computed tomography; superhydrophobicity; surface science; wettability