1 research outputs found
Hydrophobic CuO Nanosheets Functionalized with Organic Adsorbates
A new
class of hydrophobic CuO nanosheets is introduced by functionalization
of the cupric oxide surface with <i>p</i>-xylene, toluene,
hexane, methylcyclohexane, and chlorobenzene. The resulting nanosheets
exhibit a wide range of contact angles from 146° (<i>p</i>-xylene) to 27° (chlorobenzene) due to significant changes in
surface composition induced by functionalization, as revealed by XPS
and ATR-FTIR spectroscopies and computational modeling. Aromatic adsorbates
are stable even up to 250–350 °C since they covalently
bind to the surface as alkoxides, upon reaction with the surface as
shown by DFT calculations and FTIR and <sup>1</sup>H NMR spectroscopy.
The resulting hydrophobicity correlates with H<sub>2</sub> temperature-programmed
reduction (H<sub>2</sub>-TPR) stability, which therefore provides
a practical gauge of hydrophobicity