Fabrication and Evaluation of Superhydrophobic Surfaces Using Carbon Soot and Different Adhesives

The aim of this research is to create self-cleaning hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) on a glass substrate. Carbon soot has been deposited from the candle flame in order to manufacture a SHS on glass slides. The water contact angle (WCA) and roll-off angle were measured after carbon soot deposition using a test rig built in the laboratory. Further, to make SHS on glass slides more robust, candle wax and vassilline were applied on a glass substrate with or without roughening it using emery paper of grade (P80, P220 & P400). The highest WCA was 160° for a candle sooted on glass roughened with emery paper of grade P80 using vassilline as an adhesive. The mechanical durability of the prepared surfaces has been investigated using a peel-off technique with highly glue adhesive tape. The WCA was measured after each peel-off to check the changes in the degree of wettability of the fabricated surface. From the investigation, it has also been observed that more roughened glass slides show more resistance to the removal of carbon soot.