Product with tailored wettability
AssigneeThe Queen's University of Belfast
InventorsSteven Ernest John Bell, Iain Alexander Larmour, Graham Charles Saunders
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Abstract
A product which at least partly comprises an agglomerate formed from a powder having a pre-determined wettability.
Claims15
A product having at least partly a superhydrophobic surface, which surface at least partly comprises a plurality of agglomerate particles, wherein each agglomerate particle is a gathered mass of powder particles having a pre-determined wettability, wherein the pre-determined wettability is superhydrophobic and the powder has a contact angle with water of greater than 150°, and wherein the surface retains its superhydrophobic functionality throughout a depth of the agglomerate particles comprising the surface.
A process for forming an agglomerate, said agglomerate having a superhydrophobic surface, said process comprising the steps of:
- providing a starter powder having an at least part metallic surface comprising a first metal, the first metal having a first reduction potential;
- contacting the first metal with an ionic metal solution, whose metal has a higher reduction potential (i.e., more positive or less negative reduction potential) than the first reduction potential, to provide a metal-coated surface;
- contacting the metal-coated surface with a thiol material to provide a superhydrophobic surface on the powder, wherein the superhydrophobic surface has a contact angle with water of greater than 150°;
- and
- agglomerating the powder to form a plurality of agglomerate particles, wherein each agglomerate particle is a gathered mass of powder particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.