Stretchable superhydrophobic fluororubber fabricated by transferring mesh microstructures

Abstract

Stretchable flexible superhydrophobic surfaces are in great demand to achieve waterproofing performance in aerospace, electronic industry, and other fields. However, there are still many challenges in developing superhydrophobic surfaces, which maintain their wetting characteristics under high strain conditions with good tensile durability. Here, we propose a simple and efficient method to prepare a stretchable superhydrophobic fluororubber surface composed of hierarchical micro-convexities, which are orderly arranged and interconnected. Its peculiar structure shows excellent superhydrophobicity (155.48 ± 1.97°) and high water sliding angle due to Cassie's impregnating wetting regime. Due to the special structure and high mechanical strength of the surface, it can still maintain its superhydrophobic property after a variety of durability tests, including various stretching tests, sandpaper abrasion, sand impact, and high-temperature treatment. In addition, the surface can still realize the lossless transfer of water droplets even at large stretching strains, which is expected to be applied to microfluidic devices under extreme working conditions.