posted on 2019-12-09, 18:00authored byMaria Alcaire, Carmen Lopez-Santos, Francisco J. Aparicio, Juan R. Sanchez-Valencia, Jose M. Obrero, Zineb Saghi, Victor J. Rico, German de la Fuente, Agustin R. Gonzalez-Elipe, Angel Barranco, Ana Borras
Herein, we present the development of supported organic
nanofabrics
formed by a conformal polymer-like interconnection of small-molecule
organic nanowires and nanotrees. These organic nanostructures are
fabricated by a combination of vacuum and plasma-assisted deposition
techniques to generate step by step, single-crystalline organic nanowires
forming one-dimensional building blocks, organic nanotrees applied
as three-dimensional templates, and the polymer-like shell that produces
the final fabric. The complete procedure is carried out at low temperatures
and is compatible with an ample variety of substrates (polymers, metal,
ceramics; either planar or in the form of meshes) yielding flexible
and low solid-fraction three-dimensional nanostructures. The systematic
investigation of this progressively complex organic nanomaterial delivers
key clues relating their wetting, nonwetting, and anti-icing properties
with their specific morphology and outer surface composition. Water
contact angles higher than 150° are attainable as a function
of the nanofabric shell thickness with outstanding freezing-delay
times (FDT) longer than 2 h at −5 °C. The role of the
extremely low roughness of the shell surface is settled as a critical
feature for such an achievement. In addition, the characteristic interconnected
microstructure of the nanofabrics is demonstrated as ideal for the
fabrication of slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). We
present the straightforward deposition of the nanofabric on laser
patterns and the knowledge of how this approach provides SLIPS with
FDTs longer than 5 h at −5 °C and 1 h at −15 °C.