Investigating the Use of Nanoscale Bilayers Assembly on Stainless Steel Plate for Surface Hydrophilic Modification

This study investigated the use of nanoscale bilayers assembly for hydrophilic surface modification on stainless steel plate. This study first performed nanoscale bilayers assembly method, with the addition of top layer coatings for durability purposes, to modify the surface structure and thereby the hydrophilicity of the surface at 15, 17, 20, 23, and 25 bilayers. The relationship between the number of bilayers and the resulting contact angle was then empirically established. Results showed 17 bilayers to be the optimal number of bilayers among the samples tested, resulting in the smallest contact angle of 11° (compared to 70° on unmodified surface), corresponding to the highest surface wettability and hydrophilicity. From 0 to 17 bilayers, the contact angle seems to decrease linearly with the number of bilayers. Beyond 17 bilayers, at 20, 23, 25, and 30 bilayers, the samples showed no significant improvements in contact angle or hydrophilicity.