The availability of robust superhydrophobic materials with the ability to withstand harsh environments are in high demand for many applications. In this study, we have presented a simple method to fabricate superhydrophobic materials from TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) and investigated the resilience of the materials when they are subjected to harsh conditions such as intense cavitation upon ultrasonication, corrosion in saline water, water-jet impact, and abrasion. The TNTAs were prepared by anodization of Ti foil in buffered aqueous electrolyte containing fluoride ions. The hydrophilic TNTAs were functionalized with octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA) or 1H, 1H′, 2H, 2H′-perfluorodecyl phosphonic acid (PFDPA) to form a self-assembled monolayer on the TNTA surface to produce superhydrophobic ODPA@TNTA or PFDPA@TNTA surfaces. The superhydrophobic ODPA@TNTA and PFDPA@TNTA have contact angles of 156.0° ± 1.5° and 168° ± 1.5°, and contact angle hysteresis of 3.0° and 0.8°, respectively. The superhydrophobic ODPA@TNTA and PFDPA@TNTA were subjected to ultrasonication, corrosion in saline water, and water-jet impact and abrasion, and the resilience of the systems was characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), contact angle (CA) measurements, diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results presented here show that superhydrophobic ODPA@TNTA and PFDPA@TNTA are robust and resilient under the harsh conditions studied in this work, and indicate the potential of these materials to be deployed in practical applications.
We describe the use of on-chip buckled-dome Fabry–Perot microcavities as pressure sensing elements. These cavities, fabricated by a controlled thin-film buckling process, are inherently sealed and support stable optical modes (finesse
>
10
3
), which are well-suited to coupling by single-mode fibers. Changes in external pressure deflect the buckled upper mirror, leading to changes in resonance wavelengths. Experimental shifts are shown to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Sensitivities as large as
∼
1
n
m
/
k
P
a
, attributable to the low thickness (
<2019
We report on the experimental and theoretical characterization of elliptically shaped Fabry–Perot microcavities fabricated through a controlled thin-film buckling process. Due to the highly astigmatic nature of the buckled mirrors, the cavity modes are well described as elliptical Hermite–Gaussian beams. In addition to lifting the typical degeneracy of higher-order transverse spatial modes, the cavities exhibit large polarization-mode splitting greater than 25 GHz in the 1550 nm wavelength range. This large, controllable, and highly predictable birefringence makes these cavities of interest for emerging applications in cavity quantum optics that rely on non-degenerate polarization modes.
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