Wettability of partially suspended graphene

The dependence of the wettability of graphene on the nature of the underlying substrate remains only partially understood. Here, we systematically investigate the role of liquid-substrate interactions on the wettability of graphene by varying the area fraction of suspended graphene from 0 to 95% by means of nanotextured substrates. We find that completely suspended graphene exhibits the highest water contact angle (85° ± 5°) compared to partially suspended or supported graphene, regardless of the hydrophobicity (hydrophilicity) of the substrate. Further, 80% of the long-range water-substrate interactions are screened by the graphene monolayer, the wettability of which is primarily determined by short-range graphene-liquid interactions. By its well-defined chemical and geometrical properties, supported graphene therefore provides a model system to elucidate the relative contribution of short and long range interactions to the macroscopic contact angle.