A Wetting-Enabled-Transfer (WET) Strategy for Precise Surface Patterning of Organohydrogels.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Chemistry
• Polymer Science

Background:

• Precise control over surface patterns of immiscible water and oil phases is crucial for applications ranging from art to materials science.
• Current methods face challenges in achieving stable and designable surface patterns for dual-phase systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a general wetting-enabled-transfer (WET) strategy for constructing discretionary shape-defined surface patterns of organohydrogels.
• To demonstrate the monolithic formation of these patterns on diverse surfaces and scales.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing locally differentiated wettability on prepatterned substrates to guide hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers from an emulsion.
• Employing in situ photopolymerization to form corresponding hydrogel and organogel patterns.
• Controlling pattern precision through optimization of gel monomers, emulsion droplet size, and substrate surface chemistry.

Main Results:

• Successful construction of shape-defined organohydrogel surface patterns with controlled precision.
• Demonstration of pattern formation on both flat and curved surfaces, from microscale to macroscale.
• Formation of stable patterns by leveraging wettability-matching principles.

Conclusions:

• The WET strategy offers a feasible approach for precisely patterning functional materials from two-immiscible-phase systems.
• This method provides a versatile platform for creating complex surface architectures.
• The findings advance the ability to engineer advanced materials with tailored surface properties.