Oxide-based hybrids are promising systems to modulate
the surface properties and impart different functionalities. Here,
the wettability features of rough titanium dioxide (TiO2) layers derivatized by siloxanes are tailored with respect to both
water and nonaqueous solvents. The adopted synthetic procedure is
very simple and may be extended to different substrates, as it is
based on the direct functionalization of homemade, tailored, TiO2 nanoparticles by different siloxanes, both fluorinated and
nonfluorinated. Nanotitania provides a multiscale roughness able to
impart superhydrophobicity and its photocatalytic activity can be
exploited to obtain surfaces with patterned wettability by photocatalytic
lithography. The behavior of the different siloxanes (oleophobicity
degree, self-cleaning properties, and kinetics of ultraviolet degradation)
is related to the surface energy components of the bare siloxane films,
evaluated by Owens–Wendt classical model, and to the structure
of the siloxane monolayer at the TiO2 surface, as determined
by 13C and 29Si solid-state nuclear magnetic
resonance. Finally, patterned structures with tunable hydrophobic
and oleophobic patches are obtained by using the photocatalytic activity
of the oxide. The siloxane photodegradation process is analyzed by
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The resulting wetting contrast
is exploited to obtain a site selective adsorption of a dye molecule.
The presented procedure can be applied to obtain the site selective
deposition or growth of a large variety of materials, such as semiconductor
quantum dots, polymers, or biological molecules.