Pruney Finger-Inspired Switchable Surface with Water-Actuated Dynamic Textures

Abstract

Switchable surfaces play an important role in the development of functional materials. However, the construction of dynamic surface textures remains challenging due to the complicated structural design and surface patterning. Herein, a pruney finger-inspired switchable surface (PFISS) is developed by constructing water-sensitive surface textures on a polydimethylsiloxane substrate by taking advantage of the hygroscopicity of the inorganic salt filler and the 3D printing technology. Like human fingertips, the PFISS shows high water sensitivity with obvious surface variation in wet and dry states, which is actuated by water absorption−desorption of the hydrotropic inorganic salt filler. Besides, when the fluorescent dye is optionally added into the matrix of the surface texture, water-responsive fluorescent emitting is observed, providing a feasible surface-tracing strategy. The PFISS shows effective regulation of the surface friction and performs a good antislip effect. The reported synthetic strategy for the PFISS offers a facile way for building a wide range of switchable surfaces.

Water-actuated reversible shape-memory polydimethylsiloxane for potential biomedical applications

“…Without additional pumping force, water could not stay and be collected in the normal PDMS matrix, which agrees well with the little water absorption ratio of the pure PDMS. According to our previous reports, 42,43 inorganic salt solutions are used as the soft templates to introduce dynamic micro-creases in the PDMS matrix filled with inorganic salts (Fig. 1a).…”

Core–shell structured cobalt oxide nanoparticles and single Co atoms supported on graphene for selective hydrodeoxygenation of syringol to cyclohexanol

“…The unique catalytic activity of the Co 2.5 /rGO catalyst should owe a great deal to rGO, which not only acts as a support to disperse the Co species but also participates in the construction of CoO x -O v and single Co atom active sites. Besides, rGO is an electrically conductive material, 42 which is predicted to promote the HDO reactions involving electron transfer.…”

Copolymerization of Phase Change Materials with Water Resistance Poly(Acrylamide‐Co‐Polyacrylic Acid) Copolymer Encapsulation: Photothermal Conversion and Storage Performance Under Solar Conditions

“…), can be added to PCM to effectively improve the heat transfer rate of PCM and accelerate its heat storage/heat release performance to achieve efficient utilization of solar energy. [ 35–38 ] However, the inherent chemical inertia of boron nitride (BN) makes it difficult to interact with other substances, and difficult to distribute evenly, and accumulate on its own, resulting in its difficulty to fully exert its thermal conductivity. [ 39,40 ] Therefore, suitable materials are needed to assist it in forming a thermal conductivity network.…”