The technology of metal engraving has been created to achieve the “superhydrophobic effect”
Two employees of the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester (New York), Anatoly Vorobyov and Chunley Guo (Chunlei Guo) published an article in the Journal of Applied Physics, which describes the technology of creating hierarchical nano- and microstructures on the metal surface, leading to the appearance of an interesting property in it, which the authors call the " superhydrophobic effect " (superhydrophobic effect). It is expressed in the fact that drops of water, falling on the surface of the metal, bounce off about it just as if they were ping-pong balls, without wetting the metal itself.
The authors say that surfaces with such properties are not uncommon in nature - they, for example, have lotus leaves. They contain special structures of two types: large (on a micro-scale), 10–50 µm in size, and smaller, whose size ranges from 200 nm to 10 µm. These structures, combined with epicutical wax that covers the leaf surface, form the property of extremely low surface wettability, known as the lotus effect .
The researchers assembled a setup that allows irradiating metallic materials (such as brass, titanium, and platinum) as a femtosecond titanium-sapphire laser. With the help of a laser beam on the metal surface structures were obtained that form the "lotus effect", which were checked by a laser scanning microscope.
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Fig. a) - superhydrophobic platinum, b) - photograph of microstructures on it, c, d) - photographs of a scanning electron microscope (scanning electron microscope, SEM) showing hierarchical structures on the surface of platinum, e, f) - photographs of microstructures on the surface of brass and titanium .
This technology may turn out to be revolutionary: from “superhydrophobic” metals, airplanes, automobiles, telephone housings and other equipment can be made, the penetration of water into which can be critical for its functioning. In conjunction with the same glass phones may be invulnerable against the liquid.
The authors say that surfaces with such properties are not uncommon in nature - they, for example, have lotus leaves. They contain special structures of two types: large (on a micro-scale), 10–50 µm in size, and smaller, whose size ranges from 200 nm to 10 µm. These structures, combined with epicutical wax that covers the leaf surface, form the property of extremely low surface wettability, known as the lotus effect .
The researchers assembled a setup that allows irradiating metallic materials (such as brass, titanium, and platinum) as a femtosecond titanium-sapphire laser. With the help of a laser beam on the metal surface structures were obtained that form the "lotus effect", which were checked by a laser scanning microscope.
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"Fig. a) - superhydrophobic platinum, b) - photograph of microstructures on it, c, d) - photographs of a scanning electron microscope (scanning electron microscope, SEM) showing hierarchical structures on the surface of platinum, e, f) - photographs of microstructures on the surface of brass and titanium .
This technology may turn out to be revolutionary: from “superhydrophobic” metals, airplanes, automobiles, telephone housings and other equipment can be made, the penetration of water into which can be critical for its functioning. In conjunction with the same glass phones may be invulnerable against the liquid.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375787/
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