Superhydrophobic Diffusion Barriers for Hydrogels via Confined Interfacial Modification

Xi Yao; Lie Chen; Jie Ju; Changhua Li; Ye Tian; Lei Jiang; Mingjie Liu

doi:10.1002/adma.201601568

Superhydrophobic Diffusion Barriers for Hydrogels via Confined Interfacial Modification

Adv Mater. 2016 Sep;28(34):7383-9. doi: 10.1002/adma.201601568. Epub 2016 Jun 16.

Authors

Xi Yao¹, Lie Chen¹, Jie Ju², Changhua Li³, Ye Tian², Lei Jiang^{1

4}, Mingjie Liu^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China.
² Key Laboratory of Green Printing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Pharmacy, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, P. R. China.
⁴ Laboratory of Bioinspired Smart Interfacial Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China. liumj@buaa.edu.cn.
⁶ International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China. liumj@buaa.edu.cn.

PMID: 27309131
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201601568

Abstract

A ubiquitous strategy to superhydrophobize the surfaces of synthetic hydrogels is reported, creating heterogeneous wettability across the surface and the inner network. Such wetting disparity shows significant influence on preventing immediate diffusion of substances between the hydrogel and the aqueous environment on different scales.

Keywords: confined reactions; diffusion barriers; hydrogels; postmodification; superhydrophobic surfaces.