Gecko

Adhesive

Ecology

Lotus

Biology

Biomimetic materials

Materials science

Raw material

Surface finish

Layer (electronics)

Petal

Botany

Biomimetics

Surface (topology)

Geology

Surface roughness

Paleontology

Lotus effect

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Mathematics

Geometry

Composite material

Astrobiology

Chemistry

Polydimethylsiloxane

Small

It is desirable to turn one kind of superhydrophobic (SHPO) surfaces into another by changing surface topography alone and attaining solid surfaces with tunable properties. Herein, gecko‐, petal‐, and lotus‐like SHPO surfaces, composed of ZnO tetrapods and polydimethylsiloxane, are realized by adjusting the roughness factor and length scale of roughness, while keeping the surface chemistry the same. Afterward, water droplet sliding and impacting are investigated. The surfaces behave similarly in spreading but deviate from each other in sliding, receding, jetting, and rebounding due to their different adhesive properties. Moreover, the disparity between surfaces with petal and lotus effects is well explained by Furmidge's and Young–Dupre equations. On the other hand, these formulas fail to elucidate the surface with gecko effect because of its inside sealed air that produces negative pressure upon droplet motion. This paper provides a facile topography evolution path and a manifest correlation between topography and performance in water droplet dynamics for SHPO surfaces with gecko, petal, and lotus effects.

Evolution of and Disparity among Biomimetic Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Gecko, Petal, and Lotus Effect