Bioinspired design of a photoresponsive superhydrophobic/oleophilic surface with underwater superoleophobic efficacy

Oil spills at sea are a severe global environmental issue. Smart materials with controllable wettability are of global challenging interest in oil-water related applications. Nature offers a versatile platform of remarkable hierarchical structures with a chemical component, which provides bioinspired solutions for solving many challenges. In this study, an approach to achieve robust superhydrophobic/oleophobic property on flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces which mimics the hierarchical morphology of the natural lotus leaf surface is shown. The structure is prepared by hydrothermal assembly of zinc oxide nanorods onto the microstructured surface, which results in an underwater superoleophobic surface with an oil contact angle up to 153° which can effectively prevent the surface from being polluted by oils. Our results are significant in terms of their importance to academic research and industrial applications and may lead to an innovative impact in the science field.