Fabrication of cellulose based superhydrophobic microspheres for the production of magnetically actuatable smart liquid marbles

Cellulose microspheres were fabricated on the basis of sol-gel transition using NaOH/urea/H₂O as the solvent system. These microspheres had an average diameter of about 30 μm. Upon modification with Fe₃O₄ and poly (DOPAm-co-PFOEA), superhydrophobic magnetic cellulose microspheres were generated, which were analyzed by FTIR, TG, XRD, XPS and water contact angle tests. Magnetic cellulose microspheres contained approximately 15 wt% of Fe₃O₄. Poly(DOPAm-co-PFOEA)/Fe₃O₄/cellulose microspheres and had a low surface energy and a high water-repellency. These superhydrophobic microspheres were also converted into liquid marbles via an easily scalable process.