Characterization and wettability of ZnO film prepared by chemical etching method

ZnO thin films were prepared by a chemical etching method and their wettability was investigated. The structure and surface composition structure were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectronic spectrometry(XPS), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Raman spectrometry. These analyses reveal that the etched films were large-scale micro-nanohierarchical structures composed of a Zn core and a ZnO coating. Superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angles of over 150° were obtained by n-octadecanethiol(ODT) modification. The XPS and Raman results indicate that ODT molecules were bound to the ZnO surface with the S head group by forming Zn—S bond.