Super-hydrophobic nickel films with micro-nano hierarchical structure prepared by electrodeposition

Super-hydrophobic nickel films were prepared by a simple and low cost electrodepositing method. The surface morphologies of the films characterized by scanning electronic microscope exhibit hierarchical structure with micro-nanocones array, which can be responsible for their super-hydrophobic characteristic (water contact angle over 150 degrees) without chemical modi. cation. The wettability of the film can be varied from super-hydrophobic (water contact angle 154 degrees) to relatively hydrophilic (water contact angle 87 degrees) by controlling the size of the micro-nanocones. The mechanism of the hydrophobic characteristic of nickel films with this unique structure was illustrated by several models. Such micro-nanostructure and its special wettability are expected to be applied in the practical industry. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.