View source for Writing on Superhydrophobic Nanopost Arrays: Topographic Design for Bottom-up Assembly

[[Image:Topic 3 Entry_Fig 1.png|thumb|right|300px|Fig. 1, reproduced from [1]]]

Original Entry by Ryan Truby

AP 225 - Introduction to Soft Matter

November 10, 2012

== Reference Information ==

'''Authors:''' B. D. Hatton, J. Aizenberg

'''Citation:''' B. D. Hatton and J. Aizenberg. Writing on Superhydrophobic Nanopost Arrays: Topographic Design for Bottom-up Assembly. ''Nano Lett.'' '''2012''', 12, 4551-4557.

'''Related Course Keywords: ''' wetting, superhydrophobicity 

[[Image:Topic 3 Entry_Fig 2.png|thumb|right|550px|Fig. 2, reproduced from [1]]] 

== Background and Introduction ==

In the Aizenberg Biomineralization and Biomimetics Lab at Harvard, researchers have fabricated arrays of vertical, nanoscale silicon posts to create i) novel actuating surfaces that serve as sensor and stimuli-response surfaces, ii) freeze-resistant surfaces, as well as iii) patterned substrates for studying bacterial assembly and cell mechanics. The nanopost arrays are created via a Bosch process, a method of deep reactive-ion etching, in silicon wafers that yields vertical nanoposts of tunable densities, aspect ratios, and cross-sectional areas. The Aizenberg Lab has also found that the same nanopost arrays demonstrate intriguing wetting properties. When in contact with water, the nanopost arrays cause water to bead-up on the nanoposts' highest surfaces, such that no water enters the space between the nanoposts or comes in contact with any portion of the nanoposts' vertical surfaces. 

The field of soft matter physics has a general interest in the formation, stability, dynamics, and wettability of thin films of liquids. In fact, numerous studies reported over several decades have attempted to describe the enhanced hydrophobic characteristics observed on surfaces that specifically exhibit non-uniform topologies, such as rough and porous surfaces. Thus, understanding the superhydrophobicity of the nanopost arrays fabricated and studied in Professor Aizenberg's lab presents an interesting lesson in soft matter physics.

In the paper presented here, the authors demonstrate the superhydrophobic properties of silicon nanopost arrays and exploit them to assemble and pattern colloidal materials and polymers. Given below are a summary of this work, a physical explanation of the superhydrophobicity phenomenon observed with the nanopost arrays, as well as a discussion on the relevance of this work to the field of soft matter physics.

== Summary ==

Researchers have found that arrays of pillars with nanoscale dimensions behave as superhydrophobic surfaces when in contact with films of water. The authors of this paper clearly demonstrate this behavior in Figure 3B, which shows water on a silicon wafer (upper left), a silicon wafer coated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, upper right), an array of silicon nanoposts (bottom left), and an array of silicon nanoposts whose tips have been coated with PVA (bottom right). Clear decrease in the contact angle of the water is observed for silicon nanopost/wafer surfaces functionalized with PVA, while dramatic increase in contact angle is observed for the water on the array of nanoposts.

[[Image:Topic 3 Entry_Fig 3.png|thumb|right|250px|Fig. 3, reproduced from Figure 4 of [1]]] 

[[Image:Topic 3 Entry_Fig 4.png|thumb|right|350px|Fig. 4, reproduced from Figure 5 of [1]]]

[[Image:Topic 3 Entry_Fig 5.png|thumb|right|350px|Fig. 5, reproduced from Figure 6 of [1]]]

== Discussion and Relevance to Soft Matter ==

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== References ==

[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nl301775x] B. D. Hatton and J. Aizenberg. Writing on Superhydrophobic Nanopost Arrays: Topographic Design for Bottom-up Assembly. ''Nano Lett.'' '''2012''', 12, 4551-4557.