Superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surface from raspberry-like PMMA/M-SiO2 nanocomposite microspheres with dual-level hierarchical structure

Raspberry-like PMMA/M-SiO2 microspheres with mono- and dual-level hierarchical structure were fabricated by introducing gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS)-functionalized SiO2 particles (M-SiO2) into Pickering emulsion polymerization reaction of methyl methacrylate (MMA). It was found that, with the increase of MPS content, raspberry-like PMMA/M-SiO2 microspheres performed a transition in morphology from mono-level hierarchical structure to dual-level hierarchical structure. A possible mechanism of such morphology transition was also discussed. The superhydrophilic surface with a static contact angle of 0 degrees can be achieved by depositing this dual-level hierarchical structure particles on glass substrate. Further, after the surface treatment with tridecafluoroctyltriethoxysilane (FAS), the fabricated surfaces demonstrated a superhydrophobic properties with high contact angle hysteresis. [GRAPHICS] .