The Chemistry and CVD of Hydrophobic Surfaces

植物世界有超过200种植物，它们有能力利用雨水来清洁自己。它们通过具有由微观结节组成的高度结构化的表面来做到这一点。这些结核导致雨水冲击表面，形成几乎完全球形的球。这些水球在表面上滚动，吸引植物表面的灰尘和碎片，使植物能够自我清洁。这个项目的目的是生产表面，模仿这些植物的行动-我们将使这些疏水表面的化学气相沉积。化学气相沉积技术允许材料薄膜被铺设-关键特征是薄膜非常好地结合到底层表面。通过控制表面结构，也就是使表面具有微观的结节状外观，我们将能够使表面非常疏水。此外，我们将通过添加本身具有防水性的特定元素来研究表面化学对这些表面的影响。这项工作的应用是巨大的-如果一个表面可以做得非常疏水，不仅会自我清洁，它也不会起雾。这意味着它可以用在眼镜、浴室镜子和汽车内部，以防止它们起雾。它也可以用于窗户的外表面，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.