Designing Tunable Omniphobic Surfaces by Controlling the Electropolymerization Sites of Carbazole‐Based Monomers

• Published in: Macromolecular chemistry and physics Vol. 222; no. 21
• Main Authors: Fradin, Caroline, Guittard, Frédéric, Darmanin, Thierry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2021; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Carbazoles; Chemical Sciences; conducting monomers; Dichloromethane; electropolymerization; Hydrophobicity; Material chemistry; Moisture content; Monomers; Morphology; oleophobic materials; Polymerization; Protonation; superhydrophobic materials; wettability; Wetting; Conducting monomer; Superhydrophobic; Wettability; Oleophobic; Electropolymerization
• ISSN: 1022-1352; 1521-3935
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.202100262

Carbazole‐based monomers are electrodeposited in dichloromethane with different water content and water pH in order to control the surface micro‐ and nanostructures. The presence of water makes the depositions more porous by the formation of a micellar soft template. Due to the presence of the free amine groups, the water acidity plays a role on the structure of the monomers by protonation, limiting their polymerization ways and thus controlling the morphology of the structures. The wetting properties are tuned either by deprotonation of the depositions, or fluorinated postgrafting. Surfaces reach superhydrophobic and oleophobic properties. Controlled electropolymerization of highly conjugated carbazole‐based monomers results in superhydrophobic and oleophobic surfaces. The nanostructures morphology and the resulting wetting properties are tuned by different bias: the use of a micellar soft‐template and the control of the monomer structure and its polymerization ways through protonation and fluorination.