Hydrophobic properties of biomorphic carbon surfaces prepared by sintering lotus leaves

Superhydrophobicity is a common characteristic of many plant leaf surfaces. In the present study, a superhydrophobic biomorphic carbon surface was fabricated by sintering a natural lotus leaf in argon and covering it with fluorine silane [(heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetradecyl) triethoxysilane]. After sintering, the carbon sample retained the surface structure of the lotus leaf with high fidelity. This carbon exhibited superhydrophobicity after it was covered with fluorine silane. The largest contact angle of water on this surface was 159°, which exceeds that on the lotus leaf (157°) and is much higher than that of smooth carbon covered with the same fluorine silane (114°).