Recently, the superwetting materials have become a new research hotspot due to their potential application in self-cleaning, microfluidics transmission, biocompatibility etc. In addition to the creating of rough micro-nanoscale structure, the control of surface energy of the materials is also a vital factor for fabricating the superwetting materials. With the deepening of research on the mechanism of the wettability of superwetting surface, more and more kinds of low surface energy compounds with different structures have been used to decrease the surface energy. Based on the molecular structures and compound types, this paper reviews the low surface energy compounds in fabricating the superwetting materials, concludes the effects of pH value, temperature, concentration and solvent on the low surface energy materials, and summarizes the selection and application of low surface energy compounds for improving the mechanical strength, and preparing materials of wettability transformation and different wettability modification. Finally, some existing problems are discussed and the future research directions in this field are proposed.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Types of the low surface energy compounds
2.1 Silane coupling agent
2.2 Aluminate coupling agent
2.3 Saturated fatty compounds
2.4 Low surface energy polymers with 3D structure
2.5 Composite compounds with low surface energy
3 Factors affecting the low surface energy of materials
3.1 pH
3.2 Temperature
3.3 Concentration
3.4 Solvent
3.5 Other factors
4 Selection and application of low surface energy compounds
4.1 Mechanical strength
4.2 Wettability transformation
4.3 Different wettability
5 Existing problems
6 Conclusion and outlook