Facile approach to prepare a quasi-one-dimensional anisotropic wetting surface on copper substrate and its wetting properties

Abstract

In this paper, a facile method was reported to prepare a novel quasi-one-dimensional (Q-1-D) anisotropic wetting surface on copper substrate. The Q-1-D microridged structure of a stainless steel twilled Dutch weave mesh (SSDM) was replicated onto the surface of the copper film by impression and electroforming techniques, and then the copper film was modified by myristic acid to form numerous nanoclusters on the Q-1-D microridges. The copper substrate, having the Q-1-D hierarchical structure of micro-ordered ridges/nano-disordered clusters, exhibited distinctive anisotropic wettability. The effects of modification time on wettability and anti-fouling properties were studied. The results showed that modification time affected the wetting properties greatly by changing the topography. After being modified for 132 h, the static contact angles (SCAs) in parallel and vertical directions were 150.9° and 147.9°, respectively. This study proposed a new approach for the fabrication of an anisotropic wetting surface on copper substrate, and the anisotropic wetting surface may have potential applications in heat transfer, microfluidic and anti-fouling devices.