• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.360-360
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• 2011

We demonstrated the fabrication method of superhydrophobic nanocoating through a facile spin-coating and the chemical modification. The resulting coating showed a tremendous water repellency with a static water contact angle (CA) of 158$^{\circ}$ and a hysteresis of 1$^{\circ}$. The number of ZnO nanoparticle (NP) coating cycles affected on the surface roughness, which is key role for superhydrophobic surface, and thus the CA can be modulated by changing the ZnO NP coating cycles. The CA can be controlled by changing the carbon length of Self-Assembled Monolayers(SAM). This simple ZnO coating is substrate-independent including flexible surfaces, papers and cotton fabrics, which can effectively be used in various potential applications. We also observed the thermal and dynamic stabilities of SAM on ZnO nanoparticles. The superhydrophobicic surface maintained its superhydrophobic properties below 250$^{\circ}C$ and under dynamic conditions.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.2525-2527
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• 2013

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.448-448
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• 2011

We investigated the fabrication method of superhydrophobic nanocoating prepared by a simple spin-coating and the chemisorption of fatty acid. The resulting coating showed a tremendous water repellency (static water contact angle = $154^{\circ}$) and the water contact angle can be modulated by changing the number of deposition cycles of ZnO and the carbon length of Self-Assembled Monolayers (SAM). Varying the number of deposition cycles of ZnO controlled the surface roughness, and affected to the superhydrophobicity. This simple coating method can be universally applicable to any substrates including flexible surfaces, papers and cotton fabrics, which can effectively be used in various potential applications. We also observed the thermal and dynamic stabilities of SAM on ZnO nanoparticles. The superhydrophobicic surface maintained its superhydrophobic properties below $250^{\circ}C$ and under dynamic conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.157.2-157.2
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• 2016

Water repellent surfaces may enhance the condensation by efficiently removing the condensed droplets. However, such surfaces may lose their original performance as they are exposed to external mechanical stresses. In this work, we fabricated spray-coated mechanically robust superhydrophobic surfaces using treated titanium dioxide (Type 1) or silica particles (Type 2). Then we compared the mechanical robustness of such surfaces with the silane-coated superhydrophobic surface and PEEK coated surface using a controlled-sand blasting method. The results show that the spray-coated samples can maintain the same level of the contact angle hysteresis than silane-coated superhydorphobic surface after sand blasting at 2 bar. The spray-coating method was applied to the tube type condenser and the condensation behaviors were observed within the environmental chamber with controlled pressure, humidity and non-condensable gas. Previously-reported droplet jumping was observed in the early stage of the condensation event, but soon the droplet jumping stopped and only dropwise condensation was observed since the condensed droplets were pinned on the cracks at spray-coated surfaces. The static contact angle decreases from $158.0^{\circ}$ to $133.2^{\circ}$, and hysteresis increases from $3.0^{\circ}$ to $23.5^{\circ}$ when active condensation occurs on such surfaces. This work suggests the benefits and limitation of spray-coated superhydrophobic condensers and help develop advanced condensers for practical use.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.218-218
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• 2013

We report a simple and cost-effective method to fabricate transparent superhydrophobic surface on various substrates. The surface was fabricated by coating hydrophobic PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) film on the silica nanoparticle and subsequent fixing of the hydrophobic silica nanoparticles onto substrates. The water contact angle for the prepared surface was determined to be over $150^{\circ}$, whichindicates that the surface is highly repellent to water. The hierarchical structure and roughness of the surface were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Additionally, transparency of the prepared surface was measured with UV-VIS spectrometer. The transmittance of the superhydrophobic surface was ~80%, which is lower than that without PDMS-coated silica by only 5 to 10%. It is also notable that the superhydrophobic surface fully recovers its original transmittance after self-cleaning process. Also the PDMS coating is stable under a wide range of pH conditions, UV radiation and salinity conditions, which is essential for the practical use. Moreover, our fabrication method is applicable in large scale production.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.509-509
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• 2011

Superhydrophobic surfaces on alloyed steels were fabricated with a non-conventional method of plasma etching and subsequent water immersion procedure. High aspect ratio nanopatterns of nanoflake or nano-needle were created on the steels with various Cr content in its composition. With CF4 plasma treatment in radio-frequence chemical vapor deposition (r.-f. CVD) method, steel surfaces were etched and fluorinated by CF4 plasma, which induced the nanopattern evolution through the water immersion process. It was found that fluorine ion played a role as a catalyst to form nanopatterns in water elucidated with XPS and TEM analysis. The hierarchical patterns in micro- and nano scale leads to superhydrophobic properties on the surfaces by deposition of a hydrophobic coating with a-C:H:Si:O film deposited with a gas precursor of hexamethlydisiloxane (HMDSO) with its lower surface energy of 24.2 mN/m, similar to that of curticular wax covering lotus surfaces. Since this method is based on plasma dry etching & coating, precise patterning of surface texturing would be potential on steel or metal surfaces. Patterned hydrophobic steel surfaces were demonstrated by mimicking the Robinia pseudoacacia or acacia leaf, on which water was collected from the humid air using a patterned hydrophobicity on the steels. It is expected that this facile, non-toxic and fast technique would accelerate the large-scale production of superhydrophobic engineering materials with industrial applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.691-695
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• 2017

Optimization study was carried out to improve the durability of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) in alkaline fuel cell cathode by the use of highly stable PDMS superhydrophobic coating. Two different commercial GDLs were selected as substrates. Coating temperature and viscosity of PDMS were controlled for the stability of structure in microporous layer of GDL as well as uniform coating according to thermal characteristics of GDL. Regardless of PDMS viscosity, highly stable superhydrophobicities were obtained with both GDLs at $200^{\circ}C$. After the accelerated test, however, 28BC GDL coated with 1000 CS PDMS showed the best durability with the lowest loss of superhydrophobicity.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.392-396
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.279-279
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• 2013

We report on the preparation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) followed by their dispersion in various solvents. To disperse MWNTs without acids of surfactants, which are the commonly used methods, hydrophobic PDMS coating was selected. It was determined that the PDMS coated MWNTs are more dispersed in diverse solvents such as dimethyl formamide (DMF) and acetone than bare MWNTs. In case of DMF solvent, dispersion of MWNT was improved by 40 % upon PDMS-coating of MWNT, which was confirmed by UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy. In this work, the PDMS coated MWNTs dispersed solution was also used for the fabrication of film, which is conductive, transparent and superhydrophobic because of the reduced aggregation and increased water repellency of MWNTs.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.256-261
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• 2023

This study is conducted to evaluate the durability of superhydrophobic surfaces, with a focus on two aspects: contact angle measurement and self-cleaning-performance analysis. Superhydrophobic copper and aluminum surfaces are fabricated using the immersion method and subjected to a rolling wear test, in which a 2 kg weight is placed on a rolling tester, under loaded conditions. To evaluate their durability, the contact angles of the specimens are measured for each cycle. In addition, the surface deformation of the specimens before and after the test is analyzed through SEM imaging and EDS mapping. The degradation of the self-cleaning performance is evaluated before and after the wear test. The results show that superhydrophobic aluminum is approximately 4.5 times more durable than superhydrophobic copper; the copper and aluminum specimens could endure 21,000 and 4,300 cycles of wear, respectively. The results of the self-cleaning test demonstrate that superhydrophobic aluminum is superior to superhydrophobic copper. After the wear test, the self-cleaning rates of the copper and aluminum specimens decrease to 72.7% and 83.4%, respectively. The relatively minor decrease in the self-cleaning rate of the aluminum specimen, despite the large number of wear cycles, confirms that the superhydrophobic aluminum specimen is more durable than its copper counterpart. This study is expected to aid in evaluating the durability of superhydrophobic surfaces in the future owing to the advantage of performing wear tests on superhydrophobic surfaces without damaging the surface coating.