The silver nanoparticles are successfully deposited in situ onto the surface of the bamboo through the silver mirror reaction, which makes the intrinsically insulating bamboo conductive. With a further modification by the fluoroalkylsilane(FAS-17), the bamboo timber covered by Ag nanoparticles shows the superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 155° and a sliding angle less than 10°. The X-ray diffraction results indicate that the coating on the surface of bamboo is only composed of silver crystals. The scanning electron microscope studies reveal that the coatings possess two dimensional hierarchical structures comprising of the submicron scale papilla and the nano scale granules. The synergistic effect of the submicro/nano binary structure and the low surface energy layer is responsible for the superhydrophobicity of the bamboo surface. Moreover, the study of the stability and the durability of the superhydrophobic bamboo shows that the modified bamboo has a durable superhydrophobic property even under the corrosive solutions including the acidic, alkali and NaCl solutions with different molar concentrations. Especially in harsh conditions of boiling water or intense water stirring, the modified bamboo keeps its superhydrophobicity and high conductivity.

bamboo  /  silver nanoparticles  /  superhydrophobicity  /  conductivity