3D-Printed Surface Architecture Enhancing Superhydrophobicity and Viscous Droplet Repellency

Macrotextured superhydrophobic surfaces can reduce droplet-substrate contact times of impacting water droplets; however, surface designs with similar performance for significantly more viscous liquids are missing, despite their importance in nature and technology such as for chemical shielding, food-staining repellency, and supercooled (viscous) water droplet removal in anti-icing applications. Here, we introduce a deterministic, controllable, and upscalable method to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces with a 3D-printed architecture, combining arrays of alternating surface protrusions and indentations. We show a more than threefold contact time reduction of impacting viscous droplets up to a fluid viscosity of 3.7 mPa·s, which equals 3.7 times the viscosity of water at room temperature, covering the viscosity of many chemicals and supercooled water. On the basis of the combined consideration of the fluid flow within and the simultaneous droplet dynamics above the texture, we recommend future pathways to rationally architecture such surfaces, all realizable with the methodology presented here.