| Literature DB >> 30872585 |
Qianbin Wang1, Bojie Xu1, Qing Hao2, Dong Wang2, Huan Liu3, Lei Jiang1,4.
Abstract
Materials with in situ reversible wettability have attractive properties but remain a challenge to use since the inverse process of liquid spreading is normally energetically unfavorable. Here, we propose a general electrochemical strategy that enables the in situ reversible superwetting transition between underwater superoleophilicity and superoleophobicity by constructing a binary textured surface. Taking the copper/tin system as an example, the surface energy of the copper electrode can be lowered significantly by electrodeposited tin, and be brought back to the initial high-energy state as a result of dissolving tin by removing the potential. Tin atoms with the water depletion layer inhibit the formation of a hydrogen-bonding network, causing oil droplets to spread over the surface, while copper atoms, with a high affinity for hydroxyl groups, facilitate replacing the oil layer with the aqueous electrolyte. The concept is applicable to other systems, such as copper/lead, copper/antimony, gold/tin, gold/lead and gold/antimony, for both polar and nonpolar oils, representing a potentially useful class of switchable surfaces.Entities:
Year: 2019 PMID: 30872585 PMCID: PMC6418196 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09201-1
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nat Commun ISSN: 2041-1723 Impact factor: 14.919
Fig. 1In situ reversible superwetting transition between underwater superoleophilicity and superoleophobicity. a, b Scanning electron microscopic images of the copper electrode show the typical hierarchical micro-/nanostructures. c The corresponding heights of the oil droplet during the underwater superoleophobic–superoleophilic–superoleophobic transition in the presence and absence of the voltage. d, e In situ characterization of the morphology variation for a 2 μL 1,2-dichloroethaneoil droplet on a rough copper electrode. The side and top views d for the oil spreading process when the potential is on (i.e., the transition from underwater superoleophobicity to superoleophilicity) and e for the process where the spread oil retracts into a spherical shape when the potential is off. f The oil drop can even roll away from a tilted substrate after an in situ reversible wettability conversion of superphobicity–superphilicity–superphobicity. g A drawing illustrating the whole in situ reversible superwetting conversion
Fig. 2The binary composite surface governs the in situ reversible superwetting transition. a Cyclic voltammetry of a Cu electrode in H2SO4/SnSO4 (red line) and H2SO4 electrolyte (black line). Scan rate: 20 mV s−1. b The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance evaluation of the gravimetric alteration during this in situ reversible superwetting transition. c The in situ Raman spectrum characterization of hydrogen bonding on the electrode surface when the potential was switched on and off. Peaks A and B are assignable to the intermolecular symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the hydrogen bond O-D, respectively; peak C is the bending vibration of the D-O-D bond; and peak D is related to the symmetric stretching vibration of the S-O bond. d The schematics show that the Cu/Sn binary composite surface enables drastic altering of the hydrogen-bonding network at the electrolyte/electrode interface, making the oil droplet experience the in situ reversible transition between superphobicity and superphilicity. When the potential is on, the enrichment of Sn atoms inhibits the hydrogen-bonding network on the electrode surface, turning the electrode into the underwater superoleophilic state; when the potential is off, the Cu presents a high affinity to the hydroxyl group, leading the surface to return to its intrinsic superphobic state
Fig. 3The theoretical calculation and the wetting transition within different ranges. a The surface energy index of a droplet with various contact angles (CAs) by the theoretical calculation (solid curves) and by the hybrid-energy-minimization (HEM) calculation (dotted curves). E0 is the initial surface energy of a droplet with a CA of 180°, and E1 and E2 are the surface energies of droplets with CA transitions from ~180° to ~0° and from ~0° to ~180°, respectively. b Three typical wetting states involved in the in situ reversible superwetting transition: Cassie wetting, Cassie–Baxter wetting, and Wenzel wetting. c Scanning electron microscopic images of Cu electrodes with different roughnesses obtained by varying the electrochemical deposition time of Cu from 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 to 300 s. d The wetting transition can be varied between the superoleophobic (CA > 150°) state and a wide range of oleophilic (CA from ~78° to ~0°) states on the surface with different roughnesses. The data are presented as box-and-whisker plots; box, 25th–75th percentile; whiskers, 5th and 95th percentile expansion; solid black circle, mean. e, f Variations in the relative total surface energy of a 5-pL droplet with an initial CA of 150° released on a homogeneous surface with different wettability values (with CAs of 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°) as a function of the number of steps for the HEM calculation. g, h Variation in the relative total surface energy of a 5-pL droplet placed on a homogeneous surface with a CA of 150° as a function of the number of steps for the HEM calculation. The initial CAs are 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°, respectively
Fig. 4Generality of the in situ reversible underwater superwetting transition for various oils. Various oils including polar (e.g., toluene, chlorobenzene, and chloroform) and nonpolar (e.g., n-hexane) oils were observed to participate in the in situ reversible superwetting transition, which demonstrates that this in situ reversible superwetting transition can be shared by a range of oils underwater