Dynamic Sliding Behavior of Water Droplets on the Coated Hydrophobic Surfaces

Abstract

The static and dynamic hydrophobicities of the water droplets placed on a hydrophobic surface coated using a fluoroalkylsilanes monolayer with different molecular chain lengths were investigated through direct observation of the actual droplet motion during the sliding process. The surface roughness of both was found to be less than 1 nm. The static contact angles of the coated FAS-3 and FAS-17 were respectively 80 o and 108 o at 150 o C, 1 h. The slope of sliding acceleration against the water droplet mass exhibited an inflection point, thus suggesting the switching of the dominant sliding mode from slipping to rolling. While their sliding angles were similar in value, notable differences were exhibited in terms of their sliding behavior. This can be understood as being due to the contribution of the shear stress difference at the interface between the solid surface and water during the sliding process. These results show that the sliding acceleration of the water droplets depends strongly on the balance between gravitational and retentive forces on the hydrophobic surface.