Molecular Design of Conductive Polymers To Modulate Superoleophobic Properties

Abstract

Natural surfaces can be superhydrophobic, but on the other hand, superoleophobic properties are extremely rare. We demonstrate that modification of the 3,4-alkylenedioxy bridge length in pyrrole-derivative monomers can have a dramatic influence on the superoleophobic properties of electrodeposited conductive polymers. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of novel fluorinated 3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole (EDOP) and 3,4-propylenedioxypyrrole (ProDOP) monomers and their corresponding electrodeposited polymers. The polymer surfaces were characterized by static and dynamic contact angle measurements, scanning electron microscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Surprisingly, the antiwetting properties do not depend of the fluorocarbon chain length (F-octyl to F-hexyl) but are in fact governed by the nature of the electrochemically deposited core. Indeed, superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces with extremely low hysteresis and sliding angles for water droplets were obtained by electrochemical polymerization of highly fluorinated EDOP, whereas highly fluorinated ProDOP gave only superhydrophobic surfaces with a sticky behavior. The difference in wettability is attributed to surface nanoporosity resulting from the doping process.

Superpropulsion of Droplets and Soft Elastic Solids

“…We use two different kinds of SHSs with ultralow hysteresis and sliding angle that are obtained by electropolymerization. The first one is a superhydrophobic and superoleophobic fluorinated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxypyrrole) [17] and the second one a superhydrophobic fluorinated polyfluorene [18]. Their low hysteresis and sliding angles, less than 2.0 degrees, are due to the combination of microstructures and nanostructures/nanoporosities with the low surface energy of the fluorinated chains.…”

Recent developments in polymeric superoleophobic surfaces

“…74,75 After that, they synthesized novel fluorinated monomers and their corresponding electrodeposited polymers with superoleophobic property. 65,[76][77][78] The nanoporous structures [ Fig. 4(B)] and the low surface energy of the monomer are the key reasons for the superoleophobicity.…”

“…Conductive superoleophobic surfaces are mainly prepared by electrochemical polymerization using fluorinated monomers. Nicolas et al, 65,[73][74][75][76][77][78] Yan et al, 79 and Chiba et al, 80 have reported a series of work on preparation of highly fluorinated conductive polymers with superoleophobicity by this method, which have been discussed in Fabrication of Polymer Superoleophobic Surfaces. Das et al developed a simple method to prepare large-area electrically conducting films with super oil-repellent property.…”

Separation of organic liquid mixture by flexible nanofibrous membranes with precisely tunable wettability

“…21,22 Although significant progress has been achieved for membrane-based oil/water separation in the last few years, development of separation membranes for organic liquids is still highly limited because organic liquids usually possess a relatively lower surface tension than water. The difficulty in separation of organic liquid mixtures has increased because it is more difficult to build a superoleophobic [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] material than a superhydrophobic material. We recently proposed an oleophobicity-tunable TiO 2 nanofibrous membrane prepared by electrospinning, calcination and a subsequent chemical modification method that achieved immiscible organic liquids separation.…”