Synthesis and characterization of superhydrophobic CeO2/ZnO nanotube arrays with low adhesive force

• CeO2/ZnO nanotube arrays on copper substrate were obtained by two-step chemical bath deposition.
• CeO2/ZnO NTAs show superhydrophobicity after low-surface-energy silane modification.
• High contact angle is 157.3° and low adhesive force is ~14 μN.

Superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted a great interest due to their great value in basic research and practical applications. However, it is still a great challenge to explore superhydrophobic surfaces with low-adhesion. Here, the copper-based superhydrophobic CeO2/ZnO nanotube arrays (NTAs) with low adhesion, using low-surface-energy silane modification, were synthesized via a two-step chemical bath deposition. The crystal structure, morphologies, chemical compositions of the CeO2/ZnO nanotube arrays were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The superhydrophobicity of the obtained nanosample surface were discussed by water contact angle and adhesive force measurement. The results indicate that the CeO2/ZnO nanotubes present novel superhydrophobicity, which have a great water contact angle of 157.3° and a low adhesive force of about 14 μN.