The fabrication of oriented ZnO porous nanoplates on the silver foil with tunable hydrophobicity

The tunable surface of solid matter is important for its application. The silver foil was deposited with oriented hydrozincite nanoplates in the aqueous solution containing Zn(NO3)(2) and NH2(CO)(2) at 90 degrees C. The rough porous ZnO nanoplates were obtained through calcination of the hydrozincite precursor on the substrate for 1 h. The growing process of hydrozincite on the silver is discussed. The products were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns and contact angle measurement (CAM). After they were soaked with the fatty acids, the surface of the silver foil became hydrophobic. The contact angle of the samples can be tunable from 17 to 155 degrees with appropriate control.