Wettability of CNW/ITO Micro Structure for Modification of Surface Hydrophilicity

Seokhun Kwon,Wonseok Choi,Hyeokjoo Choi,Hyunil Kang

doi:10.3390/app10010142

Abstract

Although the carbon nanowall is a remarkable material in various fields, it generally shows near hydrophobicity. For modification of hydrophilicity, various modification techniques have been utilized, however, most of the techniques adopted a modification to carbon oxide by chemical processing and plasma treatment, which induce carbon lattice defects, causing the decline of the carbon nanowall quality. While we introduce an eco-friendly modification technique that causes non-defect of carbon lattice and maintains intrinsic carbon nanowall properties by depositing ITO on pristine-carbon nanowall for inducing hydrophilicity. The morphology of carbon nanowall (CNW)/ indium tin oxide (ITO) microstructure was examined by FE-SEM, and the functional group and oxygen components of ITO were investigated by analyzing XPS. The contact angles were measured for wettability analysis according to the surface thickness of ITO.

Highlights

Carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotube (CNT), carbon nanosheet (CNS), and carbon nanowall (CNW) have a nano-micro thin scale and structure, causing flexibility as well as remarkable electric, mechanic, and thermal properties
The surfaces of the CNW/indium tin oxide (ITO) micro-structure modified by ITO nano-particles sputtered onto pristine-CNW were observed, corresponding to Figure 2b–d
Micro-structure with ITO sputtered for 15 min is 60~80 nm, which shows that it is thicker compared with the pristine-CNW (Figure 2b)

Summary

Introduction

Carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotube (CNT), carbon nanosheet (CNS), and carbon nanowall (CNW) have a nano-micro thin scale and structure, causing flexibility as well as remarkable electric, mechanic, and thermal properties. The application fields of carbon nanomaterials are being expanded and widened It is attracting attention for its utilization on filter devices for desalination, medical devices in blood, and sensor devices for the detection of liquids. As methods for change of wettability, various techniques modifying the surface structure and components have been employed [8,9,10,11]. In this regard, and compared with the surface structure of carbon nanomaterials mentioned above, graphene and CNT are horizontal against the substrate. We investigated wettability change based on the influence from the ITO-structure deposited on pristine-CNW and the O-H group included in In2 O3 and SnO2 on wettability

Materials and Modification

Analysis and Measurement

Results and Discussion

Conclusions