Fabrication of a superhydrophilic epoxy resin surface via polymerization-induced viscoelastic phase separation
writer：Gebin Shen, Zhongnan Hu, Zhuoyu Liu, Ruiheng Wen, Xiaolin Tang* and Yingfeng Yu*
keywords：Superhydrophilic surface, polymerization-induced viscoelastic phase separation
source：期刊
specific source：RSC Adv.2016, 6 (41), 34120-34130
Issue time：2016年
The surface roughness and porosity play important roles on wetting behavior of materials. In this study, we introduced a novel method to tune the wettability of epoxy resin surface. A micro-nanohierarchical structure on polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified epoxy system was fabricated by polymerization-induced viscoelastic phase separation. With manipulating the curing procedure, the concentration and molecular weight of PEG, surfaces with different topography and porosity were obtained. The phase evolution was monitored by time-resolved light scattering (TRLS), and the morphologies of surfaces were demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Static water contact angle was also measured by contact angle measurement. With increasing the content of PEG in blends, the effect of viscoelasticity on phase separation was strengthened, which resulted in an increase of porosity and more hydrophilic surface of epoxy resin. Higher molecular weight PEG exerted impact on the viscoelastic behavior of phase separation which rendered rougher epoxy surface. With the aid of higher viscoelasticity on phase separation of PEG modified epoxy system, surface with micro-nano structure exhibited superhydrophilicity