Formation of Nanofibers with High Water Adhesion by Electrodeposition of Films of Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxypyrrole) and Poly(3,4‐propylenedioxypyrrole) Substituted by Alkyl Chains

Abstract

With the aim of controlling the surface hydrophobicity and water adhesion, nanofibrous surfaces were prepared by electropolymerization of 3,4‐ethylenedioxypyrrole (EDOP) and 3,4‐propylenedioxypyrrole (ProDOP) derivatives having various alkyl chains (C3 to C17) grafted to a 3,4‐alkylenedioxy bridge. Depending on whether an EDOP or a ProDOP was used, and the length of the alkyl chain, the surface properties of the resulting polymer were very different. The formation of nanofibrous surfaces was much more favored for ProDOP derivatives. The alkyl chain length has also a huge influence on the formation of nanofibers, and alkyl chains of intermediate length (C9 and C11) gave the best results. Apparent contact angles (θw) of up to 150° were obtained, and the water adhesion properties were highly variable. This work is important for many applications in which the control of interaction forces with a medium is required, such as in oil–water separation membranes or water‐harvesting systems.

Bioinspired surfaces with strong water adhesion by electropolymerization of thieno[3,4-b]thiophene with mixed hydrocarbon/short fluorocarbon chains

“…It is known conducting polymers can self-assemble to obtain structures of various shapes such as fibers, sheets or spherical particles, as observed with aniline [23,24]. Substituents can also be grafted, for example on the monomer structure [25][26][27]. In order to highly reduce the surface energy, long perfluorinated chains such as perfluorooctyl chains (C8F17) are often used to increase the hydrophobic/oleophobic properties.…”

Dynamic Wetting Properties of Mesh Substrates with Tunable Water Adhesion

“…Knowing these examples, it is evident that water adhesion can be controlled via adjustment of surface structures and relative roughness as well as through manipulation of the surface energy . Different adhesive states can be engineered using a variety of fabrication procedures and similarly there are numerous methods to characterize these states . The most commonly used technique for characterization is the tilted‐droplet method which measures the sliding angle α, the angle of inclination just prior to droplet rolls‐off.…”