摘要
Understanding the nature of hydrophobicity has fundamental importance in environmental applications.Using spherical silica nanoparticles(diameter=369±7 nm)as the model material,the current study investigates the relationship between the alkyl chain network and hydrophobicity.Two alkyl silanes with different chain length(triethoxymethylsilane(C1)vs.trimethoxy(octyl)silane(C8))were utilised separately for the functionalisation of the nanoparticles.Water contact angle and inverse gas chromatography results show that the alkyl chain length is essential for controlling hydrophobicity,as the octyl-functionalised nanoparticles were highly hydrophobic(water contact angle=150.6°±6.6°),whereas the methyl-functionalised nanoparticles were hydrophilic(i.e.,water contact angle=0°,similar to the pristine nanoparticles).The homogeneity of the octyl-chain network also has a significant effect on hydrophobicity,as the water contact angle was reduced significantly from 148.4°±3.5°to 30.5°±1.0°with a methyl-/octyl-silane mixture(ratio=160:40µL·g^(–1) nanoparticles).
基金
This study is part of the SCoBiC project funded by the UK’s EPSRC(EP/N015916/1)。
