Rapid, ultraviolet-induced, reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic surfaces

• Yunlu Pan,
• Wenting Kong,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 866–873, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.87

• understanding, the effect of the trimethoxy(alkyl)silane concentration on the number of recycle cycles was investigated. Keywords: superhydrophilic surfaces; superhydrophobic surfaces; switchable wettability; TiO2; trimethoxy(alkyl)silane; UV illumination; Introduction Wettability is an important property of

• switchable wettability, the range of variation in the wettability is still limited [15][16]. Among the numerous approaches to achieve switchable wettability, UV illumination is highly preferred due to its environmentally friendly, non-contact and convenient manner. TiO2 nanoparticles are a common

• could be used to induce the property of switchable wettability under UV illumination. In order to be useful for many applications, the ability to rapidly switch the wettability from superhydrophobicity to superhydrophilicity is imperative. Several studies based on TiO2 have been carried out to prepare

Novel reversibly switchable wettability of superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic surfaces induced by charge injection and heating

• Xiangdong Ye,
• Junwen Hou and
• Dongbao Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 840–847, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.84

• . Keywords: charge injection; heating; reversible wettability; superhydrophilic; superhydrophobic; Introduction Surfaces that are capable of reversibly switchable wettability have attracted increasing interest, especially those able to switch between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity, and hence

• . This switchable wettability was induced by the combined action of an electric field and heating. The application of sufficient voltage, a higher temperature, and a longer charging time resulted in the charge injected on the coating surface, which converted the wettability of the coating from