One-pot process to control the elaboration of non-wetting nanofibers

Thierry Darmanin (1) , Claudio Mortier (1) , Frédéric Guittard (1)

1 Surfaces & Interfaces

The surface wettability, such as superhydrophobic properties, of nanofibrous structures is highly depending on their size, length, spacing or orientation to the surface. Finding a way to control all these characteristics is extremely important in a theoretical point of view and for various applications. Here, we report the possible tuning of all these characteristics by adjusting the length (n) of the alkyl chains of electrodeposited poly(3,3-dialkyl-3,4-propylenedioxythiophene), which allows the formation of horizontally or vertically oriented nanofibers of various dimension and spacing. Here, we play especially on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic characteristics of the polymer to change the growth of a polymer on a substrate and the distance between the polymer backbones. For example, a change in the fiber orientation from horizontal to vertical is observed for n = 2. For n < 2, the polymer fibers are mainly horizontally aligned while for n > 2, the polymer fibers are vertically aligned.

Domaines: Matériaux

Thierry Darmanin, Claudio Mortier, Frédéric Guittard. One-pot process to control the elaboration of non-wetting nanofibers. Advanced Materials Interfaces, 2014, 1, pp.1300094/1-1300094/6. ⟨10.1002/admi.201300094⟩. ⟨hal-00951300⟩