Monodisperse carbon nanoparticles encapsulated in hollow NiO nanostructures (C@NiO) have been successfully synthesized by calcination from a Ni(OH) 2 covered carbon (C@Ni(OH) 2 ) precursor. The as-prepared products at each stage were extensively characterized and carefully discussed. The electrochemical properties of the carbon encapsulated in hollow NiO nanostructures were investigated using cycling voltammetry and charge-discharge techniques. The specific capacitance of the obtained C@NiO electrode was about 988.7 F g À1 at a current density of 0.5 A g À1 . It shows better performance than hollow NiO spheres obtained in oxygen atmosphere. Furthermore, the C@NiO electrode shows a good capacitive retention of ca. 90.7% after 1000 charge-discharge cycles.

Inspired by the self-cleaning superhydrophobic taro leaf, a polystyrene (PS) film with superhydrophobic surface was obtained using a natural taro leaf as template. The water contact angle and the sliding angle of the superhydrophobic PS surface were 158° ± 1.6° and 3°, respectively. The PS surface was still superhydrophobic when contacting with black ink, fresh blood and even viscous glue water. SEM shows that the surface structure comprises many uniform papillae with the diameters ranging from 10 to 15 µm, which is similar to the surface structure of natural taro leaf. Such a special surface morphology may result in the superhydrophobic property.

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A superhydrophobic surface was obtained on a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) substrate using a facile method. The water contact angle and the sliding angle of the superhydrophobic LDPE surface were 155 ± 2°and 4°, respectively. The ice shear stress of the superhydrophobic LDPE surface was 2.08 times smaller than that of the flat LDPE surface. The superhydrophobic surface still showed excellent icephobicity and superhydrophobicity after undergoing a circulatory icing/deicing procedure five times. In addition, water condensation and its effect on the icephobicity of the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface were also studied. RECEIVED