Nanoparticles Covered Surfaces for Post-functionalization with Aromatic Groups to Obtain Parahydrophobic Surface with High Water Adhesion (Petal Effect)

Abstract

Numerous exceptional properties can be observed in nature. Among these properties, parahydrophobic feature is of interest. This property describes material with high adhesion with water such as rose petals or gecko foot. Such kind of surface presents a real potential for applications in the field of water harvesting systems. In this work, we report a new synthetic strategy to mimic this property. Here, we combine three strategies in one. First, a monomer is electropolymerized in order to form the starting structured surface. Then, nanoparticles are grafted on the surface to increase the structuration and consequently to create the reactive surface. Finally, the grafted surface is post-functionalized (Huisgen reaction) with various aryl alkynes to control the surface chemistry and energy. This strategy allows to reach surfaces with both very high hydrophobic properties (θ = 140°) and high water adhesion. This work also includes the surface wettability, roughness and morphology investigation in order to study the impact of the starting monomer structure and post-functionalization on the surface properties.