New roughness parameter for the characterization of regularly textured or ordered patterned superhydrophobic surfaces

A synthesized ternary polymer composite and its use for SPE of trace metals in Coffee, tea and legumes

A new synthesized ternary polymer composite, polystyrene/polyacrylonitrile/polyindole (PSt/PAN/PIN), was used as an adsorbent. The structure of synthesized composite was supported by FTIR, BET, X-RD, TGA, SEM and AFM technique. A SPE method with synthesized composite was developed for the preconcentration of chromium, copper, iron, manganese, lead and zinc ions. The adsorption capacity were found in the range of 37.4-56.7 mg g^-1. Under the best conditions, the preconcentration factor of method was found as 100. Relative standard deviation was found at ≤ 3.3% (n = 11). The detection limits of analytes were obtained as: 0.9 μg L^-1 for Cr(III), 1.2 μg L^-1 for Cu(II), 2.0 μg L^-1 for Fe(III), 1.4 μg L^-1 for Mn(II), 0.9 μg L^-1 for Pb(II) and 2.0 µg L^-1 for Zn(II). Firstly, this SPE method was applied to certified reference material, and than coffee, tea, legumes. The trace metals was analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry.

Roughness parameters for standard description of surface nanoarchitecture

The nanoarchitecture and surface roughness of metallic thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering were analyzed to determine the topographical statistics that give the optimum description of their nanoarchitechture. Nanoscale topographical profiles were generated by performing atomic force microscopy (AFM) scans of 1 μm × 1 μm areas of titanium and silver films of three different thicknesses (3 nm, 12 nm, and 150 nm). Of the titanium films, the 150-nm film had the highest average roughness (R(a) = 2.63 nm), more than four times that of the 3-nm and 12-nm titanium films. When silver films were coated on top of 150-nm titanium films, the average roughness increased further; the 3-nm (R(a) = 4.96 nm) and 150-nm (R(a) = 4.65 nm) silver films average roughnesses were approximately twice that of the 150-nm titanium film. For topographical analysis, seven statistical parameters were calculated. These parameters included commonly used roughness measurements, as well as some less commonly used measurements, in order to determine which combination of parameters gave the best overall description of the nanoarchitecture of the films presented. Skewness (R(skw)), surface area increase (R(sa)), and peak counts (R(pc)) provided the best description of horizontal surface dimensions, and in conjunction with vertical descriptors R(a) and R(q) gave the best characterization of surface architecture. The five roughness parameters R(a), R(q), R(skw), R(sa), and R(pc) are proposed as a new standard for describing surface nanoarchitecture.

Thermal/plasma-driven reversible wettability switching of a bare gold film on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) surface by electroless plating

We report an approach for fabricating a tunable wettability surface by electroless gold plating on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). A two-layer structured gold film with a tight layer and a loose layer can be obtained on the surface of a PDMS chip when the PDMS chip is immersed in a gold plating solution at 30 degrees C for 4 h. Its wettability can be rapidly switched between superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity by plasma and heat treatments without any self-assembled monolayer, and the superhydrophobicity can be even changed from the gecko-foot-hair-like character to the lotus-leaf-like character. Benefiting from the various wettabilities of the prepared gold/PDMS composites, protein patterning is successfully achieved on a patterned superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic gold/PDMS composite; a superhydrophobic needle for transferring supersmall water droplets (1 microL) to a superhydrophobic surface is successfully fabricated.