[hal-01194425] Control of conducting polymer nanostructures for parahydrophobic properties

Controlling the water adhesion is fundamental for various applications such as in water harvesting or liquid transportation. In nature, superhydrophobic properties (high apparent contact angles and low water adhesion) as well as parahydrophobic properties (high contact angle and high water adhesion) are present in flora and fauna. Here, in order to reproduce parahydrophobic properties, nanostructured conducting polymers are elaborated by electropolymerization of 3,4-propylenedioxythiophene (ProDOT) bearing phenyl groups. The use of phenyl groups allows to reduce the polymer surface energy in comparison to long fluorocarbon of hydrocarbon chains. We show that various fibrous morphologies as well as the parahydrophobic properties can be controlled with the used electrolyte. This work is also important in the aim to replace long perfluorocarbon chains due to their bioaccumulative potential. This work also opens new doors to patent these kind of materials and to envisage their commercialization.

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