Zihe Pan

Durable Microstructured Surfaces: Combining Electrical Conductivity with Superoleophobicity

In this study, electrically conductive and superoleophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been fabricated through embedding Ag flakes (SFs) and Ag nanowires (SNWs) into microstructures of the trichloroperfluorooctylsilane (FDTS)-blended PDMS elastomer. Microstructured PDMS surfaces became conductive at the percolation surface coverage of 3.0 × 10(-2) mg/mm(2) for SFs; the highest conductivity was 1.12 × 10(5) S/m at the SFs surface coverage of 6.0 × 10(-2) mg/mm(2). A significant improvement of the conductivity (increased 3 times at the SNWs fraction of 11%) was achieved by using SNWs to replace some SFs because of the conductive pathways from the formed SNWs networks and its connections with SFs. These conductive fillers bonded strongly with microstructured FDTS-blended PDMS and retained surface properties under the sliding preload of 8.0 N. Stretching tests indicated that the resistance increased with the increasing strains and returned to its original state when the strain was released, showing highly stretchable and reversible electrical properties. Compared with SFs embedded surfaces, the resistances of SFs/SNWs embedded surfaces were less dependent on the strain because of bridging effect of SNWs. The superoleophobicity was achieved by the synergetic effect of surface modification through blending FDTS and the microstructures transferred from sand papers. The research findings demonstrate a simple approach to make the insulating elastomer to have the desired surface oleophobicity and electrical conductivity and help meet the needs for the development of conductive devices with microstructures and multifunctional properties.

Oleophobicity of Biomimetic Micropatterned Surface and Its Effect on the Adhesion of Frozen Oil.

The relationship between the oleophobicity of micropatterned surfaces and the reduction of oil adhesion at low temperatures was explored by using siloxane elastomer surfaces as a model system. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces were fabricated with varying oleophobicity from oleophilic to superoleophobic by combing the blending of trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane (FDTS) into PDMS with the construction of bioinspired micropillars. The oil contact angles of micropillars were >130°, with the largest contact angle measured to be 146°. The micropillared surface showed remarkable self-cleaning properties; the contact angle hysteresis was <15°. The transparent oil droplets on PDMS surfaces of varied oleophobicity were frozen into a white-colored solid at -25 °C with the aid of a cooling system. Adhesion forces of the frozen oil droplets were obtained from the knock-off tests, showing that the adhesion forces dropped with the increased oleophobicity. The largest adhesion force was observed on the oleophilic flat surface, while the lowest adhesion force was on the highest oleophobic micropillared surface. The relative effectiveness of chemical and physical modifications on adhesion strength reduction was studied in terms of FDTS and micropillars, respectively. The results showed that a reduction of adhesion strength by 4% was reached by blending FDTS into flat PDMS, while a much more pronounced reduction of frozen oil adhesion strength by 60% was achieved by blending FDTS into PDMS micropillars; these results suggested a possible synergic effect of the FDTS chemistry and micropillar on the reduction of adhesion strength of frozen oil droplets.

A transparent silica colloidal crystal/PDMS composite and its application for crack suppression of metallic coatings.

A silica colloidal crystal (SCC)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite with a heterogeneous surface of silica and PDMS was prepared by spreading a premixed PDMS solution on the 3D structured SCCs and curing the solution in-situ. Although the SCCs had a light blue color, the obtained composite of SCC and PDMS, due to the close effective refractive indexes of the materials, was colorless and transparent; the UV-vis spectra indicated a negligible effect of the added SCC on the transmittance of the PDMS sheet (1% reduction). Interestingly, the transparent composite sheet became translucent under stress and became clear again when relaxed. It was found that the wrinkles formed on the surface under stress were responsible for the optical change; and, the formation of the wrinkles was ascribed to the rigid nature of the SCC layer embedded in PDMS. We had applied this SCC/PDMS composite as a substrate to support a thin gold film of nanoscale thickness and found that the embedded SCC layer worked well as a transitional interface for bonding materials of mismatched mechanical properties. The incorporation of SCC layer significantly suppressed the crack generation and propagation of the gold film. The results demonstrated a potential approach for fabricating compliant and crackfree metallic films on polymeric substrates.

Graphene-doped polyaniline nanocomposites as electromagnetic wave absorbing materials

Graphene doped polyaniline (G-PANI) nanocomposites with good electromagnetic properties were synthesized using an in situ emulsion polymerization method. Polyaniline was synthesized in ammonium persulfate and hydrochloric acid solution system. Graphene was added during the polymerization of aniline. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses were performed to characterize the morphology of the nanocomposites. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy provided the evidence for the oxidation of graphene. Conductivity and electromagnetic performances of polyaniline were improved after graphene doping. The reflection loss of G-PANI showed that the best electromagnetic wave absorbing was achieved at the graphene/polyaniline mass ratio of 1.5 × 10−3.

Surface-Segregation-Induced Nanopapillae on FDTS-Blended PDMS Film and Implications in Wettability, Adhesion, and Friction Behaviors

Polymer composites have been extensively used to tune the surface property (e.g., wettability, friction, and adhesion) for its advantages of cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, and ease of fabrication. In this work, different amount of trichloro(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyl)silane (FDTS) was added into poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer to prepare polymer composite films and were selected as a model to illustrate the effects of surface segregation on surface topology, wettability, friction, and adhesion. The results show that the added FDTS forms aggregations and increasing the content of FDTS leads to the difficulty of air bubble elimination, increase in viscosity, and drop in transparency. Driven by the differences of chemical potential, FDTS aggregations migrate to the air-polymer interface, resulting in surface enrichment and formation of nanopapillae (1-200 nm). This phenomenon becomes more significant with the increment in FDTS. The change in surface composition and structure generates profound effects on wettability, friction, and adhesion. The addition of FDTS makes the surface relatively oleophobic and further increasing the content of FDTS does not helpful in improving the oleophobicity due to the notable aggregation. Friction forces first grow with the increasing content of FDTS and then decline after the maximum point at 1.0 wt % of FDTS, which is attributed to the generated regular larger nanopappillae at high concentration. However, these larger nanopapillae lead to the increase in adhesion because more interactions are formed. The findings demonstrate the behaviors of FDTS in polymer composites and provide important guidance for controlling the formation of nanostructures via aggregation and phase segregation and exploring their implications on surface properties.