This study experimentally investigated the evaporation and wetting transition behavior of fakir droplets on five different microstructured surfaces. Diamond-like carbon was introduced as the substrate, and the influence of varying the width, height, and pitch of the micropillars was assessed. The experimental results showed that the interfacial properties of the surfaces change the evaporation behavior and the starting point of the wetting transition. An important result of this study is the demonstration of a slippery superhydrophobic surface with low depinning force that suppresses the transition from the Cassie–Baxter state to the Wenzel state for microdroplets less than 0.37 mm in diameter, without employing large pillar height or multiscale roughness. By selecting an appropriate pillar pitch and employing tapered micropillars with small pillar widths, the solid–liquid contact at the three-phase contact line was reduced and low depinning forces were obtained. The underlying mechanism by which slippery superhydrophobic surfaces suppress wetting transitions is also discussed. The accuracy of the theoretical models for predicting the critical transition parameters was assessed, and a numerical model was developed in the surface evolver to compute the penetration of the droplet bottom meniscus within the micropillars.
This study experimentally investigated the evaporation and wetting transition behavior of fakir drops on five different microstructured surfaces. Diamond-like carbon was introduced as the substrate, and the influence of varying the width, height, and pitch of the micropillars was assessed. The results showed that different evaporation modes emerged during the transition, which were influenced by the interfacial properties of the surfaces. In addition, the resistance of superhydrophobic surfaces to the Cassie–Baxter to Wenzel transition was strongly dependent on the depinning ability of the three-phase contact line of the liquid drop. The accuracy of the theoretical models for predicting the critical transition parameters was discussed, and a numerical model was developed in the surface evolver to compute the penetration of the drop bottom meniscus within the micropillars. Finally, a robust superhydrophobic surface capable of suppressing the Cassie–Baxter to Wenzel transition without a hierarchical nanostructure for microdroplets less than 0.37 mm in diameter was demonstrated as the key outcome of this study.
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