Electrically controlled hydrophobicity in a surface modified nanoporous carbon

Conventional surface treatments lead to constant surface morphologies and properties. Here we show that as the inner surfaces of a nanoporous carbon are modified by 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid through a two-step grafting process, due to the flexibility of the surface chains, the end groups can be repelled by negative surface charges and attracted by positive surface charges. Thus, the surface wettability is controlled electrically. The effective solid-liquid interfacial tension in the nanopores is analyzed in a pressure induced infiltration experiment. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3549295]