Abstract
Any solid surface with homogenous or varying surface energy can spontaneously show variable wettability to liquid droplets with different or identical surface tensions. Here, we studied a glass slide sprayed with a quasi-superamphiphobic coating consisting of a hexane suspension of perfluorosilane-coated nanoparticles. Four areas on the glass slide with a total length of 7.5 cm were precisely tuned via ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, and droplets with surface tensions of 72.1–33.9 mN m−1 were categorized at a tilting angle of 3°. Then, we fabricated a U-shaped device sprayed with the same coating and used it to sort the droplets more finely by rolling them in the guide groove of the device to measure their total rolling time and distance. We found a correlation between ethanol content/surface tension and rolling time/distance, so we used the same device to estimate the alcoholic strength of Chinese liquors and to predict the surface tension of ethanol aqueous solutions.
Highlights
IntroductionInspired by the self-cleaning and water-repellent properties of plants and animals such as lotus leaves [1,2], red rose petals [3], water striders [4,5], and butterflies [6], superhydrophobic and superoleophobic materials have drawn considerable attention in both academic and industrial settings
Inspired by the self-cleaning and water-repellent properties of plants and animals such as lotus leaves [1,2], red rose petals [3], water striders [4,5], and butterflies [6], superhydrophobic and superoleophobic materials have drawn considerable attention in both academic and industrial settings.Hierarchical structures made with low-surface-energy materials can produce surfaces with large static contact angles (SCAs >150◦ ) to water droplets.Those that exhibit high SCAs (>150◦ ) and low rolling angles (RAs < 10◦ ) to oils are called superoleophobic surfaces [7]
To prepare the super-repellant surface, we optimized various suspension solutions (Nos. 1–5) by step-by-step addition of active FOTS, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), SiO2, and TiO2 nanoparticles in different amounts. contact angles (CAs) in the range of 138–152◦ appeared for the deionized water and
Summary
Inspired by the self-cleaning and water-repellent properties of plants and animals such as lotus leaves [1,2], red rose petals [3], water striders [4,5], and butterflies [6], superhydrophobic and superoleophobic materials have drawn considerable attention in both academic and industrial settings. Huang et al recently fabricated a superamphiphobic surface by spraying an ethanol suspension with two sizes of TiO2 nanoparticles and perfluorosilane [23] Their tuned glass with a gradient of solid surface energy or wettability could sort six droplets of ethanol with different concentrations (0–35%) or surface tensions. We dropped the same droplets into the guide groove of a semi-circular arc with a diameter of 7 cm, with the same coating, and let these droplets roll back and forth By measuring their total rolling time or distance, we differentiated the ethanol aqueous solutions with different surface tensions with good reproducibility. We produced a portable device with a super-repellent surface that can sort droplets without tuned areas of solid surface energy This device is useful for estimating the ethanol volume percentage, namely the alcohol strength (AS), and surface tension of ethanol aqueous solutions such as Chinese liquors in the field
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