A green, one-step and general engineering platform for high-adhesion superhydrophobic surfaces

Abstract

The development of simple, low-cost and universal surface modification strategy toward superhydrophobic materials with high adhesion is greatly desired due to its wide applications. Herein, we developed a one-step and general method to achieve the high-adhesion superhydrophobic transformation of various materials by simply depositing the natural urushiol and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) in ethanol solution. Owing to the self-polymerization of urushiol and the hydrolysis of APTES, a hierarchical structure could be constructed with multi-layered submicron spheres. The resulting urushiol/APTES coating exhibited a water contact angle of 151.2 ± 3° and an adhesive force as high as 142.7 μN with water benefiting from the hierarchical structure and the long alkyl chains of urushiol. As a result, this high-adhesion superhydrophobic surface could easily realize efficient microdroplet manipulation, hemostasis, and oil/water separation. Moreover, the urushiol/APTES coating showed outstanding stability after repeatedly tore with an adhesive tape for 300 times, ultrasonic treated for 300 s, or immersed in strong acidic or alkaline solutions for 24 h. Based on the easy fabrication, high property, and good stability, this surface modification strategy can be a powerful platform to engineer various materials to be high-adhesion superhydrophobic for wide potential applications.