Fabrication of super-hydrophobic magnetic Fe/SiO ₂ surface with tunable adhesion inspired by lotus leaf

Abstract

Super-hydrophobic magnetic Fe/SiO2 tablets with a lotus-leaf-like surface were fabricated by a simple material process method. The morphological features, characterised by field emission scanning electron microscopy, showed that the microstructure of the surface changed obviously after being sintered and etched appropriately. Adhesion of the tablet surface was turned from a fairly high slide angle (SA=90°) to quite low SA (≃2°). The principle of the system can be explained with schematic illustration based on Wenzel's and Cassie's super-hydrophobic theories.