Biomimetic superoleophobic surfaces: focusing on their fabrication and applications

Superoleophobic surfaces have drawn wide attention because of their special wetting behaviour. By adjusting surface chemical composition and surface structure, different kinds of superoleophobic surfaces (in air, underwater and others) can be obtained. This account mainly focuses on the recent progress of the fabrication and applications of superoleophobic surfaces. There are various methods to fabricate superoleophobic surfaces, which are generally divided into two ways. One is the top-down method, which includes etching, lithography, anodization and laser processing. The other is the bottom-up method, which contains electrodeposition, the hydrothermal method, sol–gel process and electro-spinning. However, each has its own merits and demerits. Hence, choosing the proper method in different conditions is quite important. These superoleophobic surfaces can be applied in many areas, such as self-cleaning, anti-corrosion, oil transportation, anti-bio-adhesion devices, oil capture, anti-smudge, chemical shielding, micro-droplet manipulation and oil–water separation. In fact, few of them have been put into practice. The development of superoleophobic surfaces is still in the experimental stage. Current and further challenges for superoleophobic surfaces are proposed. Beyond that, some creatures with typical structures are also referred, for instance, the lotus leaf, butterfly wing, rice leaf, desert beetle, rose petal, mosquito eyes, springtail, fish scale, shark skin, snail shell, the lower surface of the lotus leaf and a clam's shell.