Superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic transitions of sol-gel films for temperature, alcohol or surfactant measurement

Shirtcliffe, Neil, McHale, Glen, Newton, Michael, Perry, Carole and Roach, Paul (2007) Superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic transitions of sol-gel films for temperature, alcohol or surfactant measurement. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 103 (1). pp. 112-117. ISSN 0254-0584

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Abstract

This paper describes a method for the production of thin films of porous, hydrophobic sol-gel materials that can be made hydrophilic if treated in certain ways. The materials become hydrophilic when heated above a critical temperature, which can be varied by changing their composition. As water cannot penetrate into the hydrophobic material due to the hydrophobicity of the pore walls, the bulk material floats on water. When made hydrophilic the materials imbibe water, the pores fill rapidly and they sink. We demonstrate the use of these foam materials as detectors, using the transition from superhydrophobicity to imbibition as an indicator for maximum temperature reached, for concentration of surfactant or for measuring ethanol concentration in water.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	superhydrophobic, surfactant, wetting
Subjects:	F100 Chemistry F200 Materials Science F300 Physics
Department:	Faculties > Engineering and Environment > Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering
Depositing User:	Glen McHale
Date Deposited:	15 Aug 2012 14:49
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 19:06
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8316

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