Electrically Assisted Vat Photopolymerization of Bioinspired Hierarchical Structures with Controllable Roughness for Hydrophobicity Enhancement Using Photocurable Resin/Carbon Nanotube

The superhydrophobic properties of Salvinia molesta are observed to prevent wetting and submersion in water. Replicating this structure has always been highly desired because of its excellent superhydrophobicity but has been constrained by existing fabrication methods. Here, we proposed an electrically assisted vat photopolymerization (e-VPP) to control the surface roughness of Salvinia-inspired structures at the micro- and nanoscale through the introduction of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Experimental results show that using MWCNTs increases the superhydrophobic properties of printed bioinspired structures at a relatively high concentration compared to the normal pure resins. Alignment of MWCNTs also boosts overall performance of biomimetic structures, such as mechanical strength, contact angle and liquid surface attaching forces. Thus, these outputs make it possible to achieve better interfacial performance with controllable micro-/nano-dual-scale surface roughness properties by adjusting material composition and distribution for multiple applications, such as droplet control, micro-droplet reactor, microdroplet non-loss transportation, anti-bacteria surface, water robot and oil-water separation.

Automated summary

An electrically assisted vat photopolymerization (e-VPP) method was proposed to control the surface roughness of Salvinia-inspired structures by introducing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), which improves the superhydrophobic properties and overall performance of the bioinspired structures. The results show that MWCNTs can increase the superhydrophobicity of printed structures at a relatively high concentration and enhance mechanical strength, contact angle, and liquid surface attachment forces. This research enables the achievement of better interfacial performance with controllable micro-/nano-dual-scale surface roughness properties for various applications.