Preparation and Antiscaling Application of Superhydrophobic Anodized CuO Nanowire Surfaces

Antiscaling technology is necessary in order to prevent the performance loss and blockage of heat exchangers. In this research, a superhydrophobic CuO nanowire layer was prepared and utilized for antiscaling process of CaCO3 on the surface of copper. Modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FAS-17), the water contact angle on the CuO surface increased sharply from 4.5° ± 1° after anodization to 154° ± 2°, since the surface free energy decreased from 74.8 mJ/m2 for the hydrophilic surface to 0.2 mJ/m2 for the superhydrophobic surface. The scale inhibition performance of the surface of superhydrophobic CuO nanowires was confirmed since the corresponding scaling weight of deposited CaCO3 decreased significantly from 0.6322 mg/cm2 to 0.1607 mg/cm2. This attractive antiscaling effect of the modified superhydrophobic CuO nanowire surface should ascribe to the slow CaCO3 crystal nucleation rate, because of the low surface energy, low adhesion strength of CaCO3 crystal, and air film retained on the superhydrophobic surface.