Facile Formation of Hierarchical Textures for Flexible, Translucent, and Durable Superhydrophobic Film

Flexible superhydrophobic surfaces have recently attracted extensive interest not only in the field of burgeoning flexible electronics, but also for the practicability toward various situations. Herein, a cost-effective and environment-friendly approach is demonstrated to realize the durable, flexible, and superhydrophobic film with optical transparency. Without sophisticated facilities, the essential hierarchical architecture to render a low-adhesive surface is achieved via magnetic field-assisted polydimethylsiloxane microcilia, followed with the swelling process to decorate nanoscaled particles with excellent robustness. This tight connection between the microcilia and decorated nanoparticles renders the mechanical robustness with resistance to ultrasonic treatment, sandpaper abrasion, and high-speed water impact. The film further exhibits outstanding stabilities when exposed to organic contamination, hot water, and chemical corrosions. Water repellency is well preserved when the film is under various mechanical deformations including cyclic stretching, bending, and squeezing. For practical demonstrations, the film is applied as the protective film for touch screen owing to the intrinsic optical transmittance, or serves as the water-proof covers for sorts of complex/curved surfaces. These stated features reveal the convincing potential of the methodology to be applied for the circumstances where simultaneous addressing of robustness, flexibility, and adaptability is highly appreciated.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates a cost-effective and environment-friendly approach to produce a durable, flexible, and superhydrophobic film with optical transparency. By utilizing magnetic field-assisted polydimethylsiloxane microcilia, the film shows excellent mechanical robustness and resistance to various external factors, making it a practical option for applications requiring simultaneous considerations of robustness, flexibility, and adaptability.