Photoresponsive superhydrophobic surfaces for effective wetting control

Abstract

Dynamically tuning the surface wettability has long been a scientific challenge, but of great importance in surface science. Robust superhydrophobic surfaces, displaying switchable and tunable extreme wetting behaviors, are successfully developed by spraying photoresponsive hydrophobic nanoparticles onto various substrates. The surface wettability can be intelligently adjusted by applying irradiation with UV or visible light, which is assumed to initiate large conformation changes of azobenzene units at the coating surface, resulting in distinct surface energy change and thus controlled wetting behaviors. The underlying wetting mechanism about the resulting surfaces is systematically investi..