Journal of Bionic Engineering (2024) 21:74–83https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-023-00451-w

Fabrication of Biomimetic Surface for Hydrophobic and Anti?icing Purposes via the Capillary Force Lithography

Wenqiang Xing1  · Yiping Tang1  · Fengzhou Zhao1  · Lichun Zhang1  · Dengying Zhang1

1. School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China

AbstractIn this paper, inspired by lotus leaf surfaces, we fabricated biomimetic multi-scale micro-nano-structures by Two-Step Capillary Force Lithography (TS-CFL) and UV-assisted Capillary Force Lithography (UV-CFL). The experimental results indicated that TS-CFL was unftted to fabricate large-area multi-scale micro-nano-structures. Conversely, UV-CFL can fabricate large-area multi-scale micro-nano-structures. We discussed the hydrophobic and anti-icing properties of the biomimetic surfaces fabricated by these two technologies. We found that small structures are signifcant for improving the hydrophobic anti-icing properties of single-structured or structureless surfaces. We believe that these results can complement the experimental details of both technologies and enable the development of more interesting micro-nano-structures biomimetic surfaces by both technologies in the future.

Keywords Capillary force lithography · Biomimetic lotus leaf · Multi-scale structures · Hydrophobic · Anti-icing