Raspberry-like particle-assisted breath figures method to simultaneously fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces with different adhesions

In this article we introduced a raspberry-like particle-assisted breath figures method to simultaneously fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces with different adhesions. Firstly, SiO2 particles were in situ generated on the surface of styrene copolymer microspheres to form raspberry-like composite particles, and then simply separated the products according to the distribution differences of particles with different structures in the reactor. Finally, the superhydrophobic surface was prepared by breath figures (BF) method. The hydrophobic surfaces prepared by the particles on the wall and bottom of the reactor showed distinct adhesion, the former showed a Cassie-Baxter state with a contact angle of 158 degrees and a sliding angle of 3 degrees, while the latter exhibited a Wenzel state with high adhesion to water droplets. By changing the amount of styrene copolymer microspheres added, the superhydrophobic surface adhesion could be transformed. Meanwhile, the solid-liquid contact mode and the height to width (H/W) of the pores have also been proved to be the key factors affecting the surface adhesion.

Automated summary

In this article, a raspberry-like particle-assisted breath figures method was introduced to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces. SiO2 particles were generated on the surface of microspheres and then separated according to their structures. The superhydrophobic surface was prepared using the breath figures method. The adhesion of the surface could be transformed by changing the amount of microspheres added. The contact mode and the height to width ratio of the pores were also found to be key factors affecting the surface adhesion.