Wettability and Superhydrophobicity of 2-D Ordered Nano-structured Arrays Based on Colloidal Monolayers

Based on colloidal monolayers of polystyrene spheres, we have prepared various two-dimensional nanostructured arrays by solution routes and electrodeposition. Many ordered structured arrays generated using these methods are of surface roughness on the nano- and micro-scales, and could be superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic. The nano-devices based on such nano-structured arrays would be waterproof and self-cleaning, in addition to their special device functions. In this article, taking silica, ZnO and gold as examples of the insulators, semiconductors and metals, respectively, we report some of our recent results to demonstrate controlled wettability and superhydrophobicity of two-dimensional ordered nano-structured arrays with centimeter square-size based on colloidal monolayers. (c) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008