Abstract
Smart surfaces in nature have been extensively studied to identify their hierarchical structures in micro-/nanoscale to elucidate their superhydrophobicity with varying water adhesion. However, mimicking hybrid features in multiscale requires complex, multi-step processes. Here, we proposed a one-step process for the fabrication of hierarchical structures composed in micro-/nanoscales for superhydrophobic surfaces with tunable water adhesion. Hierarchical patterns were fabricated using a plasma-based selective etching process assisted by a dual scale etching mask. As the metallic mesh is placed above the substrate, it serves the role of dual scale etching masks on the substrate: microscale masks to form the micro-wall network and nanoscale masks to form high-aspect-ratio nanostructures. The micro-walls and nanostructures can be selectively hybridized by adjusting the gap distance between the mesh and the target surface: single nanostructures on a large area for a larger gap distance and hybrid/hierarchical structures with nanostructures nested on micro-walls for a shorter gap distance. The hierarchically nanostructured surface shows superhydrophobicity with low water adhesion, while the hybrid structured surface becomes become superhydrophobic with high adhesion. These water adhesion tunable surfaces were explored for water transport and evaporation. Additionally, we demonstrated a robust superhydrophobic surface with anti-reflectance over a large area.
Highlights
Smart surfaces in nature have been extensively studied to identify their hierarchical structures in micro-/nanoscale to elucidate their superhydrophobicity with varying water adhesion
The water adhesion of these superhydrophobic surfaces has been reported to depend on the shape and scale of the three-phase contact line (TCL), which is composed of water/solid/air
We found that the height of the micro-wall and the morphology of the nanostructures formed on top of the micro-wall varied as a function of the gap distance, while the shape of the nanostructure formed in the area directly exposed to the plasma was not significantly changed
Summary
Smart surfaces in nature have been extensively studied to identify their hierarchical structures in micro-/nanoscale to elucidate their superhydrophobicity with varying water adhesion. This anisotropic or preferential etching leads to the formation of nanostructure with high-aspect-ratio on the substrate during the continuous plasma etch with reactive gases such as O2, CF4, and SF629 This template-less method is a time-saving and eco-friendly process for the large-scale fabrication of nanostructures with tunable structural shapes such as dot, pillar, or hairy[32,33]. We proposed a one-step process for the fabrication of hierarchical structured superhydrophobic surfaces with tunable water adhesion through the plasma-based selective ion etching assisted by the dual-scale etching mask. In the single-step process, under plasma exposure in a glow discharge of oxygen gas, the metallic mesh serves as two characteristic etching masks on the substrate: a microscale etching mask to form a micro-wall network by creating a plasma shadow zone on the substrate (Fig. 1a) and a nanoscale etching mask to form nanostructures with a high aspect ratio through the selective ion etching mechanism (Fig. 1b). For the small D, simple hybrid structures were formed with the nanostructures surrounded by the micro-wall network (Fig. 1c,e), while well-defined hierarchical structures were formed with the nanostructures nested on the entire surfaces of the micro-wall pattern for the larger gap distance (Fig. 1d,f)
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