In Situ Incorporation of Pores and Nanoparticles into Polymer Surfaces Using Melt Crystallization

Abstract

Engineering the surface properties of a material without affecting its bulk properties is desirable for many applications, but it is often not readily achievable because it requires a complex series of processing steps. This study presents for the first time a simple and straightforward method that can convert regular flat polymer surfaces into various porous composite surfaces. The controlled dissolution of the polymer surface by a dispersion and subsequent melt crystallization allows for the successful embedding of dispersed inorganic or organic particles in the pore walls. The porous surface morphology is not significantly affected by the type of dispersed particle, but the contact and sliding angles and surface wettability are. Both superhydrophobic and oil/water separation surfaces can be conveniently fabricated from flat polymer surfaces. This novel and versatile technique could provide engineering freedom for the future development of various functional materials.

An elegant coupling: Freeze-casting and versatile polymer composites

“…Additionally, introducing freeze-casting into other processing techniques can generate novel structure and enhanced performance, just like the melt crystallization technique capable of in situ incorporation of pore structure and nanomaterials into polymer surfaces, the combination of freeze-casting and electrospraying, the integration of emulsification and directional freezing, the "interfacial directional freezing" strategy combining solution coating with directional freezing, unidirectional freezing in conjunction with vacuum-assisted self-assembly to construct long-scale aligned lamellar structure (Figure 10a), the novel additive manufacturing technique (Figure 10b) combining freeze-casting and extrusion-based 3D printing, and the creative "freeze-spinning" technique (Figure 10c) integrating solution spinning with directional freezing. [48,53,123,[154][155][156][157][158][159] Adopted with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry. ), electrically conductive composites ( [88], Copyright 2016.…”

Pinene‐Functionalized Polysiloxane as an Excellent Self‐Healing Superhydrophobic Polymer

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with special functionality is also important and necessary. Therefore, many functionalized self-healable materials, such as self-healing electronics, [18,19] adhesives, [20,21] shape memory polymers, [22,23] and superhydrophobic coatings [24][25][26] have been reported. Among these multifunctional materials, superhydrophobic coatings are particularly attractive because of their universalities in various industrial fields.

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