Papers – Page 24 – TechConnect Briefs

Perfluoropolyethers as superhydrophobizing agents for carbon-based surfaces of fuel cell gas diffusion layers

Navarrini W., Sansotera M., Diamanti M.V., Pedeferri MP., Gola M., Dotelli G., Politecnico di Milano, IT

Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) peroxide has been employed in the functionalization of conductive carbon-based materials to confer them the highly hydrophobic surface properties of the perfluorinated materials. The thermal decomposition of a linear PFPE peroxide produced PFPE [...]

Durable Superhydrophobic Coating

Nahum A. Panwar T., Dodiuk H., Kenig S., Barry C., Mead J., UMass Lowell, US

Bottom up cost-effective and durable superhydrophobic coatings were formulated using hydrophobic silica nanoparticles and epoxy binder at different epoxy-to-silica nanoparticle ratios. The localization of the silica nanoparticles in the dissolved epoxy oligomers before curing and [...]

Inherently Super-omniphobic Fibers and Fabrics

Truong Q., Zukas W., Welsh E., Stenhouse P., Brown P., Hoffman N., Mead J., Barry C., Mooney P., Sherer J., Panwar A., Koene B., Martin R., Cohen R., McKinley G., Kleingartner J., Chen D., U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development & Engineering Center, US

Work presented in this paper will introduce a process which modifies fiber geometry and its surface structure, and the resulting fabric’s weave structure with an additional structural level consisting of reentrant microtextural features that result [...]

Aligned HNT for Abrasion Resistance in Solar Cell Coatings

Song K., Polak R., Askar K.A., Rubner M.F., Cohen R.E., MIT, US

Halloysite nanotubes (HNT), a kind of naturally formed ceramics, encompass high aspect ratio, stiffness and low cost while remain understudied about their coating usage. Theoretical and experimental results have shown a modulus as high as [...]

Hexadecane and water droplets impacting on amphiphobic surfaces

Veronesi F., Raimondo M., Guarini G., Boveri G., Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics ISTEC CNR, IT

The control of surface wetting and the ability to actively modulate its response in different environments and against different liquids can make a bulk material a new functional one. In the field of materials science, [...]

Commercial Applications of Oleophobic and Superoleophobic Membranes

Ratnasinghe L., Lanza E., Cytonix, LLC, US

We will present data on the performance of oleophobic and superoleophobic surfaces for a variety of commercial membrane and filter applications. It is well known that oleophobic surfaces create oil resistant, anti-fingerprint surfaces that are [...]

Magnetically Aligned Nanotubes in Nanocomposite Membranes for High-Performance Filtration Applications

Ignacio-de Leon P., Chen X., Rabe E., Urgun-Demirtas M., Puga M., Zhou Z., Brotzman R., Argonne National Laboratory, US

Nanocomposite membranes, with magnetic nanotubes embedded in polyethersulfone (PES) membrane to form a permselective layer on microporous supports, are reported in this study for potential applications in wastewater treatment. Two new processes, alignment of nanotubes [...]

Silver nanoparticle-coated silica hybrid particles as anti-biofouling agent on filter materials

Woo K., Ko Y-S, Park S.H., Lee J-H., Hwang J., Korea Insitute of Science and Technology, KR

Pathogenic bacteria and viruses cause health problems and occasionally, lead to pandemic. Thus, global demand for clean air and safe water is increasing. Filtering systems have been utilized to provide clean air and water. However, [...]

A Bulk, Low Energy Surface Treatment for Three Dimensional Substrates via CVD Processing

Smith D., Patterson L., SilcoTek Corporation, US

There are myriad potential applications and a significant need for low energy surfaces. The gas-phase modification of three dimensional structures, such as fittings, tubing, valves, or manifold blocks, in high volume, to give hydrophobic and [...]

Wettable Slippery Surfaces. Self-cleaning Effect and Mechanism

Law K-Y, Research and Innovative Solutions, US

The phenomenon of self-cleaning displayed by the Lotus leaf and many other plant and insect surfaces has attracted tremendous attention recently. Self-cleaning surface is usually superhydrophobic and non-wettable, and is characterized by a very large [...]