Discovery of super-amphiphobic properties of aligned carbon nanotube films

Several kinds of aligned carbon nanotube(ACNT) films with different morphologies were prepared by pyrolysis of metal phthalocyanines. Super-hydrophobic and super-amphiphobic properties were studied in detail. The ACNT films with fairly uniform length and external diameter showed super-hydrophobic and super-oileophilic properties, with contact angles(CAs) of 158\^5±1\^5° and 0±1\^0° for water and rapeseed oil respectively. After fluorination treatment, these angles became 171±0\^5° and 161±1\^0°, respectively, showing both super-hydrophobic and super-oileophobic properties, typical of a super-amphiphobic surface. For ACNT films with lotus-like structures, not only was the morphology close to that of lotus leaves, but their super-hydrophobic properties were almost the same also. The CA and sliding angle for water of this kind of films were 166° and 8°,respectively. These super-hydrophobic and super-amphiphobic properties are caused by the nanostructures and the combination of nanostructures and microstructures on the surface. This discovery may provide a new method to study super-hydrophobic surface/interface materials without fluorine.