• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.155-162
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• 2010

Bone is a hierarchically structured composite material which has been well studied by the materials engineering community because of its unique structure and mechanical properties. Bone is a laminated organic-inorganic composite composed of primarily hydroxyapatite, collagen and water. The main mineral that gives bone's hardness is calcium phosphate, which is also known as hydroxyapatite. Light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the structure of femurs from chicken and rabbit. The elemental analysis was used to search variation in the distribution of calcium, potassium and oxygen in the femur. Current investigation focused on two structural scales: micro scale (arrangement of compact bone) and nano scale (collagen fibril and apatite crystals). At micro scale, distinct difference was found in microstructures of chicken femur and rabbit femur. At nano scale, we analyzed the shape and size of apatite crystals and the arrangement of collagen fibril. Consequently, femurs of chicken and rabbit had very similar chemical property and structures at nano scale despite of their different species.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2013

A superhydrophobic mesh is a unique structure that blocks water, while allowing gases, sound waves, and energy to pass through the holes in the mesh. This mesh is used in various devices, such as gas- and energy-permeable waterproof membranes for underwater sensors and electronic devices. However, it is difficult to fabricate micro- and nano-structures on three-dimensional surfaces, such as the cylindrical surface of a wire mesh. In this research, we successfully produced a superhydrophobic water-repellent mesh with a high contact angle (> $150^{\circ}$) for nanofibrous structures. Conducting polymer (CP) composite nanofibers were evenly coated on a stainless steel mesh surface, to create a superhydrophobic mesh with a pore size of $100{\mu}m$. The nanofiber structure could be controlled by the deposition time. As the deposition time increased, a high-density, hierarchical nanofiber structure was deposited on the mesh. The mesh surface was then coated with Teflon, to reduce the surface energy. The fabricated mesh had a static water contact angle of $163^{\circ}$, and a water-pressure resistance of 1.92 kPa.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2010.02a
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• pp.365-365
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• 2010

Similar to the superhydrophobic surfaces of lotus leaf, water strider leg is attributed to hierarchical structure of micro pillar and nano-hair coated with low surface energy materials, by which water strider can run and even jump on the water surface. In order to mimick its leg, many effort, especially, on the fabrication of nanohairs has been made using several methods such as a capillarity-driven molding and lithography using poly(urethane acrylate)(PUA). However most of those effort was not so effective to create the similar structure due to its difficulty in the fabrication of nanoscale hairy structures with hydrophobic surface. In this study, we have selected a low surface energy polymeric material of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, or Teflon) assisted with surface modification of CF4 plasma treatment followed by hydrophobic surface coating with pre-cursor of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD). It was found that the plasma energy and duration of CF4 treatment on PTFE polymer could control the aspect ratio of nano-hairy structure, which varying with high aspect ratio of more than 20 to 1, or height of over 1000nm but width of 50nm in average. The water contact angle on pristine PTFE surface was measured as approximately $115^{\circ}$. With nanostructures by CF4 plasma treatment and hydrophobic coating of HMDSO film, we made a superhydrophobic nano-hair structure with the wetting angle of over $160^{\circ}C$. This novel fabrication method of nanohairy structures has been applied not only on 2-D flat substrate but also on 3-D substrates like wire and cylinder, which is similarly mimicked the water strider's leg.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.387-392
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• 2018

Nanopatterning is one of the essential nanotechnologies to fabricate electronic and energy nanodevices. Therefore, many research group members made a lot of efforts to develop simple and useful nanopatterning methods to obtain highly ordered nanostructures with functionality. In this study, in order to achieve pattern formation of three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructures, we introduce a simple and useful patterning method (nano-transfer printing (n-TP) process) consisting of various linewidths for diverse materials. Pt and $WO_3$ hybrid line structures were successfully stacked on a flexible polyimide substrate as a multi-layered hybrid 3D pattern of Pt/WO3/Pt with line-widths of $1{\mu}m$, $1{\mu}m$ and 250 nm, respectively. This simple approach suggests how to fabricate multiscale hybrid nanostructures composed of multiple materials. In addition, functional hybrid nanostructures can be expected to be applicable to various next-generation electronic devices, such as nonvolatile memories and energy harvesters.

• Composites Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.264-268
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• 2021

In this study, we propose a method for fabricating hydrophobic coatings/films with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructured organic/inorganic composite surfaces. An epoxy-based, large-area 3D ordered nanoporous template is first prepared through an advanced photolithography technique called Proximity-field nanoPatterning (PnP). Then, a hierarchically structured surface is generated by densely impregnating the template with silica nanoparticles with an average diameter of 22 nm through dip coating. Due to the coexisting micro- and nano-scale roughness on the surface, the fabricated composite film exhibits a higher contact angle (>137 degrees) for water droplets compared to the reference samples. Therefore, it is expected that the materials and processes developed through this study can be used in various ways in the traditional coating/film field.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.171-178
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• 2017

Recently, layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly has emerged as a promising fabrication technique in controlling surface wetting properties. LbL assembly technique is eco-friendly versatile technique to control the hierarchical structure and surface properties in nano- and micro-scale by employing a variety of materials (e.g., polymers, surfactants, nanoparticles, etc.). This article reviews recent progress in controlling the surface wetting using LbL technique. In particular, technical trends and research findings on fabrication and the applications of superhydrophobic, superhydrophilc, and superoleophobic/superhydrophilic LbL surfaces are extensively explained. Additionally, basic principles and fabrication methods in emerging areas such as omniphobic, self-healing, intelligent and responsive LbL surfaces are discussed.