Fabrication of a Superhydrophobic Surface with Adjustable Hydrophobicity and Adhesivity Based on a Silica Nanotube Array

Abstract

A superhydrophobic surface with a water contact angle > 150 degrees has attracted great interest from both fundamental and practical aspects. In this study, we demonstrated that hydrophobicity of a silica nanotube (SNT) array can be easily controlled by the SNT aspect ratio. In addition, the adhesive and anti-adhesive properties were controlled without modifying the hydrophobic surface. Various silica structures on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate were prepared using the desired alumina template. Bundle-arrayed and bowl-arrayed silica surfaces exhibited extraordinary superhydrophobicity due to the large frontal surface area and hierarchical micro/nanostructure. As the strategy used in this study is biocompatible and a wide range of hydrophobicities are capable of being controlled by the SNT aspect ratio, a hydrophobic surface composed of an SNT array could be an attractive candidate for bioapplications, such as cell and protein chips.