Evaporation-induced transition from Nepenthes pitcher-inspired slippery surfaces to lotus leaf-inspired...

The newly developed Nepenthes pitcher (NP)-inspired slippery surfaces, formed by immobilizing fluoroliquids on lotus leaf (LL)-inspired superoleophobic surfaces, are of great general interest, whereas there are many interesting phenomena and fundamental scientific issues remaining to be unveiled. Here we present our findings of the effects of evaporation of the fluoroliquid, an inevitable process in most cases, -induced transition from NP-inspired to LL-inspired surfaces on the wettability, transparency, and self-cleaning property of the surfaces. The transition is controlled by regulating the evaporation temperature of the model fluoroliquid, Krytox100. The evaporation of Krytox100 has great a influence on the wettability, transparency, and self-cleaning property. An intermediate "sticky" state is observed in the transition process. We believe that our findings in the transition process are helpful in understanding the similarities and differences between the NP-inspired and LL-inspired surfaces and in designing new bioinspired antiwetting surfaces and exploring their potential applications.