Fabrication and Applications of Wrinkled Soft Substrates: An Overview

Abstract

Morphology of soft materials, including those of natural systems has great influence in controlling their surface functionalities and responses to external stimuli. Surface morphological features of natural soft systems are produced through controlled cell growth and tissue growth. Artificial systems capable of emulating the morphology-dependent physicochemical responses of natural soft substrates can be prepared through various methods such as surface oxidation, thermal stress, compressive stress, etc. Wrinkling is an important morphological irregularity on soft substrates which can be leveraged in this direction. Wrinkling in artificial soft systems can be achieved through several experimental strategies such as compressive stress, thermal stress, surface oxidation, etc. The tunable, reversible and responsive nature of wrinkled soft substrates make them a potential tool for numerous applications in electronics, optics, adhesives, etc. In this review, have briefly summarized and commented on recent developments in different types of wrinkled soft substrates, their preparation, and emergent applications.

Multilayered nanocomposite coatings for enhanced anticorrosive, flame retardant, and mechanical properties in automobile and aerospace industries

“…Thus, the nanocomposite showed WCA of 165 which is the highest value obtained as compared to other nanocomposites. It confirms that, this coating shows superior hydrophobicity and it does not pave the route for water molecules to enter into the alloy interface [54][55][56][57]. The chemical bonding between GO layered structure and functionalized BAO/NiS 2 is increased by interacting BAO.…”

Facile fabrication of stable wettability gradients on elastomeric surfaces for applications in water collection and controlled cell adhesion

“…During the past couple of decades, gradient surfaces have been an interesting area of research due to their practical applications in cell adhesion, protein adsorption, nanotribology, microfluidics, heating/cooling systems, and in combinatorial experiments for studying material properties and behaviors. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Nature is abundant with gradients; carnivorous plants (e.g. Dionaea muscipula commonly known as the Venus fly trap), water collection of named beetles, directional adhesion properties of butterfly wings, etc.…”

Smart Polymer Surfaces with Complex Wrinkled Patterns: Reversible, Non-Planar, Gradient, and Hierarchical Structures

“…The great effort carried out in elaborating these materials is justified by the wide variety of applications that largely depend on the surface properties of a particular material. For instance, both patterning and functionalization of polymer surfaces have been demonstrated to play a crucial role in the preparation of substrates for different applications in the biomedical [ 30 ], soft electronic [ 31 ], optical [ 32 ], or micromechanical [ 33 ] areas, among others.…”