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  • Spontaneous wrinkling of la...
    Li, Yang; Li, Xiang; Guo, Wenjin; Wu, Mengchun; Sun, Junqi

    Science China. Chemistry, 12/2016, Volume: 59, Issue: 12
    Journal Article

    The fabrication of smart films with reversible wettability enabled by the stimulus-induced morphology changes has attracted growing interest but remains a challenge. Here we report a smart film that can reversibly changes its wettability between transparent hydrophobicity to translucent superhydrophobicity through the humidity-induced wrinkling/de-wrinkling process. The film was fabricated by depositing hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) films, followed by partially exfoliating the films from the underlying substrates. The partially exfoliated PAA/PAH film can reversibly wrinkle and de-wrinkle when being alternately subjected to humid and dry environments. The deposition of hydrophobic SiO2 NPs on the wrinkling PAA/PAH film does not hinder the humidity-enabled wrin-kling/ de-wrinkling ability of the composite film. The hydrophobic SiO2 NPs and the underlying humidity-wrinkling PAA/PAH film enable the composite film to spontaneously change from hydrophobic and transparent to superhydrophobic and translucent with the rise of environmental humidity.