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
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;
Journal_Title :
Micro & Nano Letters, IET
DOI :
10.1049/mnl.2013.0449