Reversible Superwetting Transition Between Superhydrophilicity and Superhydrophobicity on a Copper Sheet, and Its Corrosion Performance

• Main Authors: Hong Li, Tiange Chen, Yanfeng Lu, Xinyu Fu, Xingwen Chu, Qinzhuang Liu, Jinfeng Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-01
• Series: Frontiers in Materials
• Subjects: corrosion protection; superhydrophobic surface; reversible transition; copper oxide nanoribbons arrays; hydrothermal method
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmats.2021.710377/full
• ISSN: 2296-8016

Dense copper oxide nanoribbons arrays are prepared on a copper sheet by using a low-temperature hydrothermal method. The wettability of the surface modified by stearic acid is superhydrophobic, and the water contact angle is 153.6°. It is demonstrated that the reversible transition from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity is successfully achieved by heat treatment and re-modification, and the whole process can be accomplished in 170 s. Potentiodynamic polarization curves and Nyquist curves show that these superhydrophobic surfaces have good corrosion resistance and superior durability.