Rose Pistil Stigma-Based Biomimetic Adhesion-Controllable Multifunctional Structure for the Stability of Air-Water...

Bionic functional structured surfaces have been widely applied in many fields. This study focuses on the structural biomimicry, fabrication processes, and applications of RPS (rose pistil stigma) that combine superhydrophobicity with high adhesion. However, the large-scale fabrication of controllable, regular, hierarchical, and complex structures on curved substrates remains limited by current manufacturing technologies. Therefore, achieving technological breakthroughs through simple, rapid, environmentally friendly, and energy-free strategies is an urgent scientific challenge and an important direction for the development of green manufacturing processes. BRPS (biomimetic rose pistil stigma) with both superhydrophobicity and high adhesion were fabricated using a dip-coating and lift-up combined with a chemical oxidation process. Natural polymer α-cellulose microparticles were incorporated into the PDMS prepolymer to enhance the surface roughness and mechanical strength of the microstructures. The results show that when the surface possesses appropriate microstructural features, the BRPS array exhibits macroscopic superhydrophobicity. The tunable adhesion behavior of the array can be tuned by adjusting the number of BRPS units, making it promising for potential applications such as micromanipulators for droplet manipulation. In addition, a novel antifouling strategy based on the BRPS array is demonstrated. The BRPS enables multistep mechanical transfer and release of individual droplets, and it can also retain an air cushion underwater, resulting in remarkable antifouling performance; therefore, it is of great significance for advancing antifouling technologies for marine construction surfaces.