Preparation of a Superhydrophobic Ni Complementary Surface Using a Walnut Wood Template

Abstract

Ni is widely used in the field of corrosion protection because of its stability, hardness, and ductility. Inspired by the excellent hydrophobicity of walnut wood, imparted by its porous structure, we synthesized a morph-genetic, porous Ni sheet. A pyrolyzed walnut template was immersed in a Ni2+ solution, allowing Ni to be electroplated on the surface and to enter the skeleton’s pores. After calcination and surface modification, a template-free, low-surface-energy Ni sheet was obtained and accurately investigated by scanning electron microscopy and contact angle goniometry to evaluate its morphology and hydrophobicity. The results show that the Ni sheet inherited the complementary structure of the template, and, in turn, its water-repelling ability. We were able to measure contact angles as large as 150°, demonstrating that the new surface morphology endowed Ni with superhydrophobicity.

Rational Design and Fabrication Method for Bioinspired Directional Droplet Sliding Surfaces

“…[ 5,8–11 ] Researchers have obtained design ideas to demonstrate functional wetting surfaces from nature, such as butterfly‐wing, pitcher plants, rice leaves, and bamboo leaves. [ 5–7,9,12–18 ] The artificial surfaces have been fabricated based on these models and utilized in diverse fields, including microfluidics, biotechnology, and energy‐harvesting devices. [ 4,8,19–23 ]…”

“…[5,[8][9][10][11] Researchers have obtained design ideas to demonstrate functional wetting surfaces from nature, such as butterfly-wing, pitcher plants, rice leaves, and bamboo leaves. [5][6][7]9,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The artificial surfaces have been fabricated based on these models and utilized in diverse fields, including microfluidics, biotechnology, and energyharvesting devices. [4,8,[19][20][21][22][23] The top morphology of the microline structure must be manufactured in a re-entrant shape to perform on-demand anisotropic sliding of various liquid droplets with a wide range of surface tensions without wetting the surface.…”