Dent, F.J. orcid.org/0000-0003-4991-1940, Tyagi, G., Esat, F. et al. (2 more authors) (2024) Tuneable Topography and Hydrophobicity Mode in Biomimetic Plant‐Based Wax Coatings. Advanced Functional Materials, 34 (1). 2307977. ISSN 1616-301X
Abstract
Across diverse natural surfaces, remarkable interfacial functionalities emerge from micro and nanoscale self-assemblies of wax components. The chemical composition of the epicuticular wax prescribes the intrinsic crystal morphology and resultant topography of the natural surfaces, dictating their interfacial wetting properties. The potential of regulating the topography of identical wax compositions through various crystallization routes is tested here. Crystallization through solvent evaporation produces diverse topographies with enhanced surface hydrophobicity compared to the slow cooling of the wax melt. Further, the microscale interfacial crystalline structure can be deliberately designed to operate in sticky or slippery hydrophobic regimes through control of the supersaturation level during the crystallization process. While the supersaturation level significantly impacts surface wettability by modulating the microscopic aggregation of rice bran wax crystals, the crystal structure at the molecular scale remains effectively unchanged. The relationships between the supersaturation level, surface topography and hydrophobicity modes, primarily derived for rice bran wax, are qualitatively validated for a wider range of plant-based waxes. Crystallization of inherently hydrophobic plant-based waxes from thermodynamically isotropic solutions offers an affordable single-step approach for the fabrication of biodegradable hydrophobic coatings, applicable to versatile materials and geometries.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Engineering Thermofluids, Surfaces & Interfaces (iETSI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Royal Society RGS\R1\211265 Wellcome Trust 204825/Z/16/Z |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 15 Nov 2023 10:33 |
Last Modified: | 16 Jan 2024 12:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/adfm.202307977 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:205290 |