Durable Biomimetic Two-Tier Structured Superhydrophobic Surface with Ultralow Adhesion and Effective Antipollution Property

Superhydrophobic surfaces with low adhesion have attracted great attention in recent years owing to their extensive applications. Enlightened by multifunctional rice leaves, a micro/nanobinary structured superhydrophobic surface was successfully fabricated on the Ti6Al4V substrate by photoetching, acid etching, alkaline etching, as well as fluorination treatments. Water droplets exhibited a Cassie impregnating wetting state on this superhydrophobic surface, under which the contact area fraction of the liquid-air interface caused by primary micron-scale stripped bumps (fp) and secondary nanoflower-like structures (fs) were calculated for the first time. The water adhesion force of this nonwetting surface was precisely measured as 7 mu N, which was much lower than that (362 mu N) of the original flat substrate and the previous reported surfaces. Moreover, this low-adhesive surface displayed good chemical stability after exposing to air, soaking in aqueous solutions (acid, alkaline, and salt), and cyclic icing/melting treatment. It also showed good mechanical durability after a series of abrasion treatments. Besides, this multifunctional superhydrophobic surface exhibited superior antipollution property to different kinds of contaminants. This multifunctional superhydrophobic surface displays a huge potential for industrial droplet transportation and self-cleaning applications.

Automated summary

Superhydrophobic surfaces with low adhesion have been widely studied due to their extensive applications. Inspired by rice leaves, a micro/nanobinary structured superhydrophobic surface was fabricated on a Ti6Al4V substrate. This surface showed a Cassie impregnating wetting state and had a low water adhesion force of 7 μN, much lower than others. It also displayed good chemical stability, mechanical durability, and superior antipollution property. This multifunctional superhydrophobic surface has great potential for droplet transportation and self-cleaning applications.