The wetting properties of solid surfaces can be altered dramatically by surface roughness, but doing so in a rational manner calls for unusually precise control over surface structure on the nanometer scale. Here we present a new way to control the roughness of macroscopic substrates and microparticle surfaces via surface assembly and progressive fusion of responsive nanoparticles. Our study correlates the intensity of the proposed surface treatment with qualitative and quantitative assessments of the resulting surface roughness and with the three phase contact angle for competitive surface wetting in air-water and oil-water systems.

Control of surface roughness and wetting with responsive nanoparticles

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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