The present study demonstrates the creation of a stable, superhydrophobic surface using the nanoscale roughness inherent in a vertically aligned carbon nanotube forest together with a thin, conformal hydrophobic poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) coating on the surface of the nanotubes. Superhydrophobicity is achieved down to the microscopic level where essentially spherical, micrometer-sized water droplets can be suspended on top of the nanotube forest.

No abstract

If deposited on a hydrophobic rough substrate, a small drop of water can look like a pearl, with a contact angle close to 180°. We examine the conditions for observing such a phenomenon and show practical achievements where the contact angle can be predicted and thus quantitatively tuned by the design of the surface microstructure.