Switch isotropic/anisotropic wettability via dual-scale rods
Yang He,
Chengyu Jiang,
Shengkun Wang,
Zhibo Ma,
Weizheng Yuan
Affiliations
Yang He
Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace, Ministry of Education and Shaan’xi Key provincial Laboratory of Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, P.R. China
Chengyu Jiang
Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace, Ministry of Education and Shaan’xi Key provincial Laboratory of Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, P.R. China
Shengkun Wang
Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace, Ministry of Education and Shaan’xi Key provincial Laboratory of Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, P.R. China
Zhibo Ma
Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace, Ministry of Education and Shaan’xi Key provincial Laboratory of Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, P.R. China
Weizheng Yuan
Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Systems for Aerospace, Ministry of Education and Shaan’xi Key provincial Laboratory of Micro and Nano Electromechanical Systems, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, P.R. China
It is the first time to demonstrate the comparison of isotropic/anisotropic wettability between dual-scale micro-nano-rods and single-scale micro-rods. Inspired by the natural structures of rice leaf, a series of micro-nano-rods and micro-rods with different geometric parameters were fabricated using micro-fabrication technology. Experimental measured apparent contact angles and advancing and receding contact angles from orthogonal orientations were characterized. The difference of contact angles from orthogonal orientation on dual-scale rods was much smaller than those on single-scale rods in both static and dynamic situation. It indicated that the dual-scale micro-nano-rods showed isotropic wettability, while single-scale micro-rods showed anisotropic wettability. The switch of isotropic/anisotropic wettability could be illustrated by different wetting state and contact line moving. It offers a facial way to switch isotropic/anisotropic wettability of the surface via dual-scale or single-scale structure.
