A facile approach for the fabrication of superhydrophobic surface with candle smoke particles

The aim of this communication is to explore a simple and efficient method for fabrication of superhydrophobic surface by candle smoke particles (CSPs). The properties of CSPs before and after the calcination process has been studied by SEM, TEM, TG-DSC, FT-IR and contact angle measurements. The results show that there is a complex mixture of elemental carbon and a variety of hydrocarbons in association with amorphous nanomaterial in CSPs, whose structure and composition leads to superhydrophobic properties. The wetting properties of CSPs can turn from superhydrophobic into superhydrophilic due to characteristic group changes by calcination process. Thus, it is a simple and efficient method to fabricate superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic surface by CSPs at low cost.