Multiscale Microflower Structured Superhydrophobic Surface via Electrostatic Air Spray

Superhydrophobic surfaces with microstructures and multifunctionalityhave attracted intense research interest. Herein, a multiscale microflowerstructured surface (MMSS) was successfully fabricated by electrostaticair spray. To systematically study the preparation process, the influencesof different electrostatic voltages, solution ratios, soaking time,spray distances, and spray time on surface morphology and hydrophobicitywere analyzed. The surface has good superhydrophobic properties witha water contact angle of 162.3 & DEG;, which allows the surface tobe self-cleaning and antifouling. The surface hydrophobicity can bemaintained after various mechanical and chemical damages. To overcomethe limitation that existing droplet manipulation relies on specialmaterials and surfaces, a new and universal droplet transport methodis presented to successfully perform nondestructive droplet manipulations,which relies on external forces and droplet deformation to drive droplets.Therefore, this paper represents a different approach from previousstudies of superhydrophobic surfaces and provides a new way to achievedynamic droplet manipulations. These results indicate that the multifunctionalMMSS will be widely used in industrial droplet transportation andself-cleaning applications.