A superhydrophobic layer formed by fluoro-derivative-treated gold sheets on grown-up zinc oxide nanoparticles for a spherical DNA hydrogel

• We manufacture a new superhydrophobic layer mimicking a wrinkled lotus leaf.
• Both zinc oxide nano-patterning and self-assembled chemical treatment are used.
• The superhydrophobic layer is optimized for a spherical DNA gel matrix system.

A facile deposition process was developed for the fabrication of a new superhydrophobic layer composed of an underlying zinc oxide nanoparticle support and a gold top layer doped with the hydrophobic chemical, heptadecafluoro-1-decanethiol (HDFT). The resulting microscaled and spherical DNA-based hydrogels could serve as a platform for pseudo-nucleus mimics.

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