Rapid Reversible Superhydrophobicity-to-Superhydrophilicity
Transition on Alternating Current Etched Brass
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Abstract
Reversible surface wetting behavior
is a hot topic of research because of the potential engineering applications.
In the present work, a hierarchical micro/nanostructure is fabricated
on brass by alternate current (AC) etching. The superhydrophilic as-prepared
etched brass (EB) turns into superhydrophobic after the modification
of stearic acid for 1 min. After annealing at 350 °C for 5 min,
the superhydrophobic modified EB surface becomes superhydrophilic
again. Furthermore, the annealed EB can restore the superhydrophobicity
with the remodification of stearic acid. The wetting transition is
realized by stearic acid modification and annealing rapidly in 6 min.
The wetting transition mechanism is discussed based on the surface
chemical analysis. This method is facile and suitable for the construction
of large-scale and complex brass surfaces with tunable wetting behaviors