Thermo-responsive surface wettability on a pristine carbon nanotube film Original Research Article

A superhydrophobic carbon nanotube (CNT) film is fabricated by a simple spray-coating method without any chemical modification. The superhydrophobic surface changes after heating to a state of superhydrophilic wettability, and such transition may be attributed to the change of electronic structures of CNTs since the surface structure and composition after treated remain the same as the pristine CNTs. The initial wettability state is reestablished within 24 h of storage in air, and the time can be shortened to only 1 min when the heated CNT film was stored in deionized water.