Nanotechnology

Sculpture

Visual arts

Composite material

Thin film

Materials science

Dewetting

Advanced Functional Materials

Liquid manipulation plays an increasingly critical role in daily life and future technological processes. Although intensive attention is paid on controlling droplets, how to manipulate the behavior of larger scale liquid film still remains mysterious. Here, a droplet‐impact‐induced liquid film sculpture strategy is demonstrated on a microstructured heterowettable surface that can precisely sculpt a liquid film into any graphic pattern. The fundamental principles of the liquid film sculpture are elucidate and a phase diagram is drawn to distinguish three liquid film states upon droplet impacting including dewetting, rupture, and nonrupture. To precisely guide the film sculpture, the microstructured heterowettable surface is designed so that water film will naturally rupture at the top of the microstructure after the droplet impact and subsequently dewet into desired pattern. Liquid film sculpture is accompanied by self‐propulsion and high construction speed, both of which are preferred in no‐spray printing, painting, cleaning, and drawing, inspiring future artistic and engineering applications.

Liquid Film Sculpture via Droplet Impacting on Microstructured Heterowettable Surfaces