Long‐Lived Multifunctional Superhydrophobic Heterostructure Via Molecular Self‐Supply

Abstract

encounters many diffi culties. Mimicking the lotus effect of plant leaves, SHO surfaces were found to be resulted from surface microstructures together with hydrophobic chemicals. Surface microstructures can be fabricated by various means including chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion-beam and e-beam lithography. [17][18][19][20][21][22] However, these methods suffer from disadvantages such as calcinating at high temperatures, tedious and timeconsuming treatments, toxic chemicals, or processing with intricate instruments. For instance, Lau et al. deposited carbon nanotube forests on oxidized silicon by CVD at 650 °C with DC voltage bias of 600 V and then coated the forests with poly(tetrafl uoroethylene) to achieve SHO surfaces. [ 17 ] Deng et al. coated candle soot with silica at 600 °C for 24 h to fabricate superamphiphobic coatings. [ 18 ] Operating at temperatures ≥600 °C this approach is highly energy-intensive; it is also time-consuming costing days or longer. Lithography based on ion-beam and e-beam is also widely employed to fabricate microstructural surfaces. [ 19,20 ] However, this approach heavily relies on intricate ion-beam and e-beam instruments which are not easily accessible. Other problems include toxicity and unstability of raw materials applied. Hydrophobic chemicals and organic polymers such as perfl uorosilane, octadecyltricholorosilane, tetraethylorthosilicate, and others are commonly used to coat surface microstructures. [20][21][22] However, these chemicals are toxic, combustible, nonresistant to sunlight, unstable at high temperature (>260 °C), and/or diffi cult to maintain.Here we report a simple approach, based on self-supplying of low surface tension chemicals to nanoparticles, to fabricate SHO heterostructural surfaces featuring low temperature, rapid processing, with simple instruments and environment-friendly materials. Long-duration outdoor superhydrophobicity maintained for over a year is achieved. Furthermore, the surfaces made are endowed with extraordinary functions such as photocatalysis and transparency, enabling self-sustaining dust removal, and organic decomposition without poisoning. Besides, the heterostructures can be mounted fl exibly into ultrafi ne wettability patterns favoring water collection and microfl uidic applications. Results and DiscussionThe SHO surface in our experiment is a three-layer heterostructure, which can be fabricated on different types of substrates Superhydrophobic (SHO) surfaces have drawn great attention thanks to their theoretical signifi cance and myriad applications in industry and everyday life. Current approaches to fabricate such surfaces require calcinating at high temperatures, tedious and time-consuming treatments, toxic chemicals, and/ or processing with intricate instruments. Long-duration SHO surfaces are even more challenging due to material instability and easy contamination by organic pollutants in dry conditions. To overcome these diffi culties we design a simple approach via self-supplying of low surface tension chemicals to na...

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