One-Step Fabrication of Flexible Bioinspired Superomniphobic Surfaces.

Abstract

Flexible superomniphobic doubly re-entrant (Dual-T) microstructures inspired by springtails have attracted growing attention due to their excellent liquid-repellent properties. However, the simple and practical manufacturing processes of the flexible Dual-T microstructures are urgently needed. Here, we proposed a one-step molding process coupled with the lithography technique to fabricate the elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Dual-T microstructure surfaces with high uniformity. The angle between the downward overhang and the horizontal direction could reach 90° (vertical overhang). The flexible superomniphobic Dual-T microstructure surfaces, without fluorination treatment and physical treatments, could repel liquids with a surface tension lower than 20 mN m-1 in the Cassie-Baxter state. Owing to the excellent robustness of the one-step molding downward overhanging, the max breakthrough pressure of this surface could reach up to 164.3 Pa for ethanol droplets. Furthermore, the flexible superomniphobic Dual-T surface allowed impinging ethanol droplets to completely rebound at the Weber number up to 7.1 with an impact velocity of ∼0.32 m s-1. The Dual-T microstructure surface maintained excellent superomniphobicity even after surface oxygen plasma treatment and exhibited excellent structural robustness and recoverability to various large mechanical deformations.