Conversion of an electrospun nanofibrous cellulose acetate mat from a super-hydrophilic to super-hydrophobic surface

acetate mat surface from super-hydrophilic to super-hydrophobic. Super-hydrophilic cellulose acetate nanofibrous mats can be obtained by electrospinning hydrophilic cellulose acetate. The surface properties of the fibrous mats were modified from super-hydrophilic to super-hydrophobic with a simple sol-gel coating of decyltrimethoxysilane (DTMS) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The resultant samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water contact angle, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller ( BET) surface area, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV-visible measurements. The results of FE-SEM and XPS showed that the sol-gel ( I) films were formed on the rough fibrous mats only after immersion in sol-gel. After the sol - gel ( I) coating, the cellulose acetate fibrous mats formed in both 8 and 10 wt% cellulose acetate solutions showed the super-hydrophobic surface property. Additionally, the average sol - gel film thickness coated on 10 wt% cellulose acetate fibrous mats was calculated to be 80 nm. The super-hydrophobicity of fibrous mats was attributed to the combined effects of the high surface roughness of the electrospun nanofibrous mats and the hydrophobic DTMS sol - gel coating. Additionally, hydrophobic sol - gel nanofilms were found to be transparent according to UV-visible measurements.