Manufacturing of Super-Repellent Surfaces with High Mechanical Resilience

表面模仿荷叶，并具有超强的驱避性能有许多应用，包括减少阻力，防结冰，传热和防生物污染。然而，目前大多数可制造的表面对液体的排斥范围不够广，并且缺乏机械耐久性。为了增强其液体驱避性，可以在表面结构中加入纳米级悬垂。然而，悬挑类似于倒金字塔形状，在机械上很弱，使得这些表面更容易受到日常机械应力的损伤，比如被人的手指触摸。该项目旨在解决这一基本冲突，并为一种新型的超级驱避表面铺平道路，这种表面结合了通用的液体驱避和机械弹性，迄今为止，由于它们的几何要求不同，它们被认为是相互排斥的。该研究将侧重于开发一种新的设计和制造方法，以增强驱虫剂表面的机械坚固性，使其能够适应各种机械负荷，如折叠和锤击。这项研究的结果可能对现实世界的广泛应用产生重大影响，这些应用以前受到机械脆弱性的阻碍。这个跨学科的项目包括纳米制造、材料科学、微流体和界面科学。它还包括让本科生和高中生参与合作研究任务的举措，以促进包容性，并提供动手干培训，包括为传统上在该领域代表性不足的群体提供培训。现有的解决方案主要依靠牺牲一小部分顶部表面结构来延缓驱避性的丧失，而这种制造方法将使用软硬材料的组合来创建混合表面结构。这种创新可以防止表面结构被损坏，因为当受到机械载荷时，混合表面结构会变形成软基板，然后在载荷移除后恢复其原始形状。因此，可以保持这些混合表面结构的超级驱避性。该项目旨在研究混合表面结构的机械耐久性，并分析材料变化和详细几何形状对其设计的影响。因此，它将为制造具有高机械弹性的超级排斥表面提供基本见解和工程指导。通过协调强液体驱避的形状要求和机械坚固性之间的内在冲突，本研究有望克服超级驱避表面实际应用的科学障碍。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Surfaces that mimic lotus leaves and have super-repellent properties have numerous applications, including drag reduction, anti-icing, heat transfer, and anti-biofouling. However, most presently-manufacturable surfaces are repellent to an insufficiently-broad range of fluids and lack mechanical durability. To enhance their liquid repellency, nanoscale overhangs in the surface structures can be incorporated. However, overhangs resemble an inverted pyramid shape that is mechanically weak, making these surfaces even more prone to damage from everyday mechanical stresses, such as being touched by human fingers. This project aims to address this fundamental conflict and pave the way for a new type of super-repellent surface that combines universal liquid repellency and mechanical resilience, which have so far been believed to be mutually exclusive due to their contrasting geometric requirements. The research will focus on developing a novel design and manufacturing method to enhance the mechanical robustness of repellent surfaces, making them resilient to various mechanical loads, such as folding and hammering. The outcomes of this research could have significant implications for a wide range of real-world applications that were previously hindered by mechanical fragility. This interdisciplinary project encompasses nanomanufacturing, material science, microfluidics, and interfacial science. It also includes initiatives to engage undergraduate and high school students in collaborative research tasks to foster inclusivity and provide hands-on STEM training, including for groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in the field.Unlike existing solutions that primarily rely on sacrificing a fraction of the top surface structures to delay the loss of repellency, this manufacturing method will use a combination of soft and rigid materials to create hybrid surface structures. This innovation prevents the surface structures from being damaged, because when subjected to mechanical loads, the hybrid surface structures deform into the soft substrate and subsequently recover their original shapes once the load is removed. Consequently, the super repellency on these hybrid surface structures can be maintained. This project aims to study the mechanical durability of hybrid surface structures and analyze the impact of material variations and detailed geometries on their design. It will thus yield fundamental insights and engineering guidelines for manufacturing super-repellent surfaces with high mechanical resilience. By reconciling the inherent conflict between the shape requirements for strong liquid repellency and mechanical robustness, this study is expected to overcome a scientific barrier to the practical utilization of super-repellent surfaces.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.