Nanotextured Surfaces

Nanotexturing surfaces causes water droplets to ball up and roll off without wetting the surface. (Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Nanotextured surfaces (NTSs) are defined as surfaces covered with nano-sized structures. They have one dimension on the nanoscale, i.e., only the thickness of the surface of an object is between 0.1 and 100 nm. They are currently gaining popularity because of their special applications owing to their unique physical properties. Nanotextured surfaces are in various forms like cones, columns, or fibers. These are water, ice, oil, and microorganism repellent that is superamphiphobic, anti-icing and antifouling respectively and thus self-cleaning. They are simultaneously anti-reflective and transparent, hence they are termed as “smart” surfaces.[1]

A research published online October 21, 2013, in Advanced Materials, of a group of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, led by Brookhaven physicist and lead author Antonio Checco, proposed that nanotexturing surfaces in the form of cones produces extremely water-repellent surfaces. These nano-cone textures are 'superhydrophobic' (or super-water-hating).[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nair, Rahul Premachandran (2007). Tribology of Silicon Nano-textured Surfaces Fabricated by Rapid Aluminum-induced Crystallization of Amorphous Silicon. ProQuest. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-0-549-48326-7.
  2. ↑ DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory (October 21, 2013). /releases/2013/10/131021131108.htm "Nano-cone textures generate extremely 'robust' water-repellent surfaces". ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Checco, Antonio; Atikur Rahman; Charles T. Black (October 21, 2013). "Robust Superhydrophobicity in Large-Area Nanostructured Surfaces Defined by Block-Copolymer Self Assembly". Advanced Materials. doi:10.1002/adma.201304006.