Fabrication of durable underoil superhydrophobic surfaces with self-cleaning and oil-water separation properties

In this study, a simple method without any additional chemical modification is proposed to fabricate underoil superhydrophobic surfaces with micro- and nano-hierarchical structures using a nanosecond laser system. The fabricated surfaces exhibited extreme superhydrophobicity and underoil superhydrophobicity with high contact angles of 153.8 +/- 1.5 degrees and 161.3 +/- 1.1 degrees, respectively. The results show that even after 20 abrasion cycles, the fabricated surfaces retained water repellency and self-cleaning performance under oil, while the superhydrophobicity in air was not resistant to wear. In addition, the fabricated brass meshes can also be used to separate oil in an oil-water mixture based on the prewetting induced underoil superhydrophobicity after being damaged. The separation efficiency was as high as 97.8%, which made them more appropriate for the oil-water separation than those based on superhydrophobicity. The proposed fabrication method is suitable for large-scale and mass production and provides a new avenue and possibility for further development of robust functional interface materials.

Automated summary

A simple method is proposed to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces with micro- and nano-hierarchical structures. The fabricated surfaces showed extreme superhydrophobicity and underoil superhydrophobicity. The materials also demonstrated excellent resistance to wear and high efficiency in oil-water separation.