Abstract
Taking inspiration from the hydrophilic and superhydrophilic properties observed from the nanostructures present on the leaves of plants such as Alocasia odora, Calathea zebrina, and Ruelia devosiana, we were able to synthesize cupric oxide (CuO) nanostructures from the plasma surface modification of copper (Cu) that exhibits hydrophilic and superhydrophilic properties. The Cu sheets were exposed to oxygen plasma produced from the P300 plasma device (Alliance Concept, Cran-Gevrier, France) at varying power, irradiation times, gas flow rates, and pulsing duty cycles. The untreated and plasma-treated Cu sheets were characterized by contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) to determine the changes in the surface of Cu before and after plasma treatment. Results showed that plasma-treated Cu sheets exhibited enhanced wetting properties compared to untreated Cu. We attributed the decrease in the measured water contact angles after plasma treatment to increased surface roughness, formation of CuO nanostructures, and transformation of Cu to either CuO2 or Cu2O3. The presence of the CuO nanostructures on the surface of Cu is very useful in terms of its possible applications, such as: (1) in antimicrobial and anti-fouling tubing; (2) in the improvement of heat dissipation devices, such as microfluidic cooling systems and heat pipes; and (3) as an additional protection to Cu from further corrosion. This study also shows the possible mechanisms on how CuO, CuO2, and Cu2O3 were formed from Cu based on the varying the plasma parameters.
Highlights
In past decades, the mimicking of nature has been very successful in solving global environmental, material, and sustainability problems due to the superior physical and chemical properties exhibited by different animals, plants, and microorganisms [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
cupric oxide (CuO) nanostructures formed from the plasma surface modification of Cu exhibited hydrophilic and superhydrophilic properties from the measured water contact angles of less than 90◦ or
These enhanced wetting properties are comparable with the hydrophilic and superhydrophilic properties observed from the nanostructures present on the leaves of plants such as Alocasia odora, Calathea zebrina, and Ruelia devosiana
Summary
The mimicking of nature has been very successful in solving global environmental, material, and sustainability problems due to the superior physical and chemical properties exhibited by different animals, plants, and microorganisms [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Aside from the surface morphology, the surface and bulk chemistry of the leaves of these plants contribute to the exhibited wetting properties [6]. Mimicking these nanostructures to attain the same wetting properties can be achieved using different techniques, Biomimetics 2019, 4, 42; doi:10.3390/biomimetics4020042 www.mdpi.com/journal/biomimetics. Plasma technologies have been widely used, due to its ability to modify the surface chemistry and surface morphology of a material by taking advantage of the presence of complex mixtures of ions, electrons, atoms, and radical species in the plasma [11,12].
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