Strain-Controlled Switching of Hierarchically Wrinkled Surfaces between Superhydrophobicity and Superhydrophilicity

Recent years have witnessed intense interest in multifunctional surfaces that can be designed to switch between different functional states with various external stimuli including electric field, light, pH value, and mechanical strain. The present paper is aimed to explore whether and how a surface can be designed to switch between superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity by an applied strain. Based on well-established theories of structure buckling and solid–liquid contact, we show that this objective may be achieved through a hierarchically wrinkled surface. We derive general recursive relations for the apparent contact angle at different levels of the hierarchical surface and investigate the thermodynamic stability of different contact states. Our study may provide useful guidelines for the development of multifunctional surfaces for many technological applications

Large-Aperture and Grain-Boundary Engineering through Template-Assisted Metal Dewetting for Resonances in the Short Wave Infrared

We extend the fabrication method of template-assisted metal dewetting (TeAMeD) to create near-infrared resonant nanostructures in an Au film without the need for etching or lift-off. TeAMeD has previously been used to generate high aspect-ratio sub-10 nm apertures, but struggles to generate larger apertures (>100 nm). In this work, we introduce a method to create larger apertures using templates consisting of fin-like patterns with radial symmetry. We also report evidence of grain boundary engineering, through the template pinning effect. Our three-dimensional phase field model of TeAMeD predicts both the grain-boundary pinning and aperture opening effects that agree well with experiments. Combined with simulation design, TeAMeD can be established as a grain engineering platform, allowing grain shape and boundary position to be controlled. Variations of template motif produce larger grains and numerous possible outcomes, including suspended Au nanodisks and triangular apertures