Transparent superwetting nanofilms with enhanced durability at model physiological condition

Abstract

There have been many studies on superwetting surfaces owing to the variety of their potential applications. There are some drawbacks to developing these films for biomedical applications, such as the fragility of the microscopic roughness feature that is vital to ensure superwettability. But, there are still only a few studies that have shown an enhanced durability of nanoscale superwetting films at certain extreme environment. In this study, we fabricated intrinsically stable superwetting films using the organosilicate based layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly method in order to control nano-sized roughness of the multilayer structures. In order to develop mechanically and chemically robust surfaces, we successfully introduced polymeric silsesquioxane as a building block for LbL assembly with desired fashion. Even in the case that the superhydrophobic outer layers were damaged, the films maintained their superhydrophobicity because of the hydrophobic nature of their inner layers. As a result, we successfully fabricated superwetting nano-films and evaluated their robustness and stability.