Bioinspired Surfaces With Switchable Wettability

Abstract

The surface wettability of plants exhibits many unique advantages, which enhances the environmental adaptability of plants. In view of the rapid development of responsive materials, smart surfaces have been explored extensively to regulate surface wettability through external stimuli. Herein, we summarized recent advancements in bioinspired surfaces with switchable wettability. Typical bioinspired surfaces with switchable wettability and their emerging applications have been reviewed. In the end, we have discussed the remaining challenges and provided perspective on future development.

Keywords: applications; bioinspired surfaces; fabrication; smart surfaces; switchable wettability.

Figure 1

Bioinspired Smart Surfaces with Switchable Wettability. (a) Photograph of a lotus leaf. Reproduced from Wang et al. (2018b) with permission of WILEY-VCH. (b) Photograph of a rose. Reproduced from Wang et al. (2018b) with permission of WILEY-VCH. (c) Photograph of reed leaves. Reproduced from Jiang et al. (2018) with permission of American Chemical Society. (d) Photograph of Nepenthes pitcher plants. Reproduced from Huang et al. (2017) with permission of WILEY-VCH. The schemes for typical surfaces with switchable wettability based on (e) surface chemistry changing, (f) surface roughness changing, and (g) a combination changing of surface chemistry and surface roughness. (h) Photothermal response. Reproduced from Geng et al. (2018) with permission of WILEY-VCH. (i) Electric response. Reproduced from Oh et al. (2018) with permission of WILEY-VCH. (j) Magnetic response. Reproduced from Huang et al. (2017) with permission of WILEY-VCH. (k) Pneumatic response. Reproduced under the terms of the CC-BY Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) (Wang et al., 2018a). Copyright 2018, the authors, published by Springer Nature. (l) PH response. Reproduced from Zhu et al. (2017) with permission of American Chemical Society.