The Chemistry and CVD of Hydrophobic Surfaces

植物界有200多种物种，它们有能力使用雨水进行自我清洁。它们是通过具有由微小结核组成的高度结构化的表面来做到这一点的。这些结节导致雨水撞击地表，形成几乎完全球形的球体。这些水球在表面滚动，吸引植物表面的灰尘和碎片--使植物能够自我清洁。这个项目的目标是制造模仿这些植物行为的表面--我们将通过化学气相沉积来制造这些疏水表面。化学气相沉积技术可以铺设材料的薄膜-其主要特点是薄膜与衬底表面结合得非常好。通过控制表面结构-即使表面具有微观的结节外观，我们将能够使表面非常疏水。此外，我们将通过添加特定的元素来研究表面化学对这些表面的影响，这些元素本身就是防水的。这项工作的应用范围是巨大的--如果一个表面可以变得非常疏水，它不仅可以自我清洁，而且还不会喷雾。这意味着它可以用于眼镜、浴室镜子和汽车后部，以防止它们结雾。它也可以用在窗户的外表面，以保持窗户的清洁和明亮。

The plant world has over two hundred species that have the ability to clean themselves using rain water. They do so by having a highly structured surface that is composed of microscopic nodules. These nodules cause rain impacting on the surface to form almost completely spherical balls. These water balls roll across the surface and attract dust and debris from the plant surface- and enable the plant to clean itself. The aim of this project is to produce surfaces that mimic the action of these plants- we will make these hydrophobic surfaces by chemical vapour deposition. The chemical vapour deposition technique allows thin films of material to be laid down- the key feature is that the films are extremely well bonded to the underlaying surface. By controlling the surface structure- that is to make surfaces with a microscopic nodular apperance we will be able to make the surfaces very hydrophobic. Further we will investigate the effect of surface chemistry on these surfaces by adding specific elements that in themselves are water repelling. The applications of this work are enormous- if a surface can be made very hydrophobic not only will it self clean, it will also not mist. This means that it can be used on spectacles, bathroom mirrors and the indside of cars to stop them fogging up. It could also be used on the exterior surface of a window pain to keep the window clean and bright.