Facile assembly of graphene and titania on micro-structured substrates for superhydrophobic surfaces

Superhydrophobic surfaces based on chemically reduce graphene oxide (rGO) and titania (TiO2) nanoparticles on micro-structured K9 glass were facilely fabricated. Graphene oxide (GO) sheets were assembled on micro-structured K9 glass substrates by electrostatic self-assembly techniques. A positively charged rGO surface was achieved via reduction of GO by aniline vapors. Negative TiO2 nanoparticles were assembled on rGO, and followed by surface modification with trichlorosilane. The resultant surfaces exhibited excellent superhydrophobic characteristics. A contact angle as high as 153.5° was achieved. The method is simple yet versatile, and the resultant structures are very useful because of the superhydrophobicity as well as light catalytic effects of rGO–TiO2 hybrids, which make these as-tailored structures ideal candidates for self-cleaning applications.