Exploiting the Hierarchical Morphology of Single-Walled and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films for Highly Hydrophobic Coatings

Francesco De Nicola; Paola Castrucci; Manuela Scarselli; Francesca Nanni; Ilaria Cacciotti; Maurizio De Crescenzi

doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.34

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arXiv · 1502.00939

Exploiting the Hierarchical Morphology of Single-Walled and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films for Highly Hydrophobic Coatings

Francesco De Nicola·Paola Castrucci·Manuela Scarselli·Francesca Nanni·Ilaria Cacciotti·Maurizio De Crescenzi

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Abstract

Self-assembled hierarchical solid surfaces are very interesting for wetting phenomena, as observed in a variety of natural and artificial surfaces. Here, we report single-walled (SWCNT) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) thin films realized by a simple, rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive filtration process from an aqueous dispersion, that was deposited at room temperature by a dry-transfer printing method on glass. Furthermore, the investigation of carbon nanotube films through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals the multi-scale hierarchical morphology of the self-assembled carbon nanotube random networks. Moreover, contact angle measurements show that hierarchical SWCNT/MWCNT composite surfaces exhibit a higher hydrophobicity (contact angles of up to 137°) than bare SWCNT (110°) and MWCNT (97°) coatings, thereby confirming the enhancement produced by the surface hierarchical morphology.

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Francesco De Nicola, Paola Castrucci, Manuela Scarselli, Francesca Nanni, Ilaria Cacciotti, Maurizio De Crescenzi. 2015-02-03. Exploiting the Hierarchical Morphology of Single-Walled and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films for Highly Hydrophobic Coatings. https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.6.34

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