• DocumentCode
    75199
  • Title

    Wetting of carbon nanotube functionalised nylon and its usage as flexible electrode in electrowetting on dielectric

  • Author

    Wei Zhang ; Xudong Zuo ; Chengwei Wu

  • Author_Institution
    State Key Lab. of Struct. Anal. for Ind. Equip., Dalian Univ. of Technol., Dalian, China
  • Volume
    8
  • Issue
    10
  • fYear
    2013
  • fDate
    Oct. 2013
  • Firstpage
    722
  • Lastpage
    725
  • Abstract
    The nylons functionalised with single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) at pH 2.5 and 3.5 display the time dependence of the water droplet contact angle, which is attributed to the adsorption of water molecules onto the nylon-water contact surface and the consequent increase in surface free energy. The contact angle of nylons functionalised at pH 4.5, 6.5 and 8.0 varies marginally with contact time, presumably owing to the presence of a large amount of SWCNTs on the nylon surface. Using the obtained nylon as a flexible electrode, an electrowetting on a dielectric system is designed. The contact angle decreases with the increase of the applied voltage and the electrowetting response is sensitive to the surface free energy of the water droplet. A low surface free energy is preferable for actuating the movement of the water droplet at a low-driving voltage.
  • Keywords
    adsorption; carbon nanotubes; contact angle; flexible electronics; free energy; pH; polymers; surface energy; wetting; applied voltage; carbon nanotube functionalised nylon wetting; dielectric system; electrowetting; electrowetting response; flexible electrode; low surface free energy; low-driving voltage; nylon surface; nylon-water contact surface; pH; time dependence; water droplet contact angle; water molecule adsorption;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Micro & Nano Letters, IET
  • Publisher
    iet
  • ISSN
    1750-0443
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1049/mnl.2013.0449
  • Filename
    6651482