EAGER: Biomimetic Moisture-Resistant Micro-Condensation Surfaces for Civil and Architectural Engineering

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"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The objective of this study is to develop a photopatternable superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating to achieve a moisture-resistant surface using an innovative micro-condensation principle, mimicking nature. The presence of the biomimetic micropatterned surface with alternating superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic microstructures for high-efficient microscopic condensation would allow a significantly more efficient removal of moisture, which would selectively collect the moisture as condensed micro-droplets and effectively remove them by gravitation, in comparison with the conventional superhydrophobic surfaces. The proposed coating may be easily applied to a wide range of surfaces, and can be obtained through a standard photolithography manufacturing technique. This work can potentially impact a wide variety of civil and architectural engineering applications, for example, as protective coating of buildings, statues and landmarks, a method to prevent rain/wind induced oscillations in cables in suspension and cable-stayed bridges, a water harvesting method, and a moisture control method for mold prevention. Two Ph.D. students will be involved in this research: one student from Biomedical Engineering, who will develop and characterize a patterned coating especially designed to bond with different types of substrates; the other from Civil and Environmental Engineering, who will run gravimetric analysis of the hygrothermally tested specimens, followed by static testing.