Superamphiphobic Cu/CuO Micropillar Arrays with High Repellency Towards Liquids of Extremely High Viscosity and Low Surface Tension

Abstract

For almost all the research of super anti-wetting surfaces, pure liquids like water and n-hexadecane are used as the probes. However, liquids of diverse compositions are used in academic research, industrial production and our daily life. Obviously, the liquid repellency of super anti-wetting coatings is highly dependent on properties of the liquids. Here, we report the first superamphiphobic surface with high repellency towards liquids of extremely high viscosity and low surface tension. The surfaces were prepared by constructing a hierarchical micro-/nanostructure on the Cu micropillar arrays followed by modification with perfluorosilane. The surfaces are superamphiphobic towards the liquids with extremely high viscosity and low surface tension because of (i) the micro-/nanostructured surface composed of micropillars with proper pillar distance and CuO nano-flowers, and (ii) the abundant perfluorodecyl groups on the surface. The contact angles, sliding angles, apparent contact line at the solid-liquid interface and adhesion forces are the end products of micropillar distance, viscosity and surface tension. Smaller micropillar distance, higher viscosity and higher surface tension contribute to reducing the adhesion force. We in situ observed the process of microcapillary bridge rupture for the first time using highly viscous liquids. We also successfully reduced the adhesion forces and enhanced the average rolling velocity of liquids with extremely high viscosity and low surface tension by regulating the micropillar distance.