Synthesis and characterization of MWCNT-covered stainless steel mesh with Janus-type wetting properties

Abstract Various multi-step methods to fabricate Janus membranes have been reported in literature. However, no article so far reports the durability of when exposed liquids. We report on a novel method Janus-type multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)-covered stainless steel (SS) mesh, which retains dual-wetting properties even after exposure water for 540 d. The MWCNTs are grown directly mesh coupons by chemical vapor deposition using acetylene as source, and then plasma functionalized an ammonia-ethylene gas mixture achieve dual-wettability. found x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy that top face MWCNT-SS was plasma, coated polymer rich nitrogen-containing functional groups, while bottom almost devoid coating. Atomic force microscopy studies confirmed surface roughness is lower than minimum allows capillary ingress sustain its superhydrophobic behavior. In addition, scanning electron also treated MWCNT vertically aligned compared mesh. dense forest attributes nature.