Reversible wettability switching of piezo-responsive nanostructured polymer fibers by electric field

In this work the preparation of fibers array with electric field switchable wettability is described. Piezoelectric properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and chemical reactivity of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) are used. Electrospinning blend fibers were fabricated from both of polymers and deposited on glass (non-conductive) and aluminum (conductive) substrates. The samples were modified with diazonium salts (ADT-C8F17), causing the hydrophobic surface characteristics. Applying an external electric field (EF) on these surfaces results in fibers rearrangement and dramatic changes in surface hydrophilicity. The wettability of the surface and the shape of the droplet were studied reporting the effect of varying the orientation of the electric field and using different substrates with different conductivity, which allowed us to control the shape of the deionized water drop interfering with the applied voltage. Moreover, reporting the results of shifting the polarity of the water by dissolving NaCl salt in different concentrations was reported.

Automated summary

This work describes the preparation of fibers array with electric field switchable wettability using the piezoelectric properties of PVDF and the chemical reactivity of PMMA. It was found that by varying the orientation of the electric field and using different substrates with different conductivity, the shape of the deionized water drop can be controlled effectively. Additionally, the polarity of water can be shifted by dissolving NaCl salt in different concentrations.