American Chemical Society, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 46(7), p. 25560-25567, 2015
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Bio-mimetic functional surfaces are attracting increasing attention for their relevant technological applications. Despite these efforts, inherent limitations of microfabrication techniques prevent the replication of complex hierarchical microstructures. Using a 3D laser lithography technique, we fabricated a 3D patterned surface bioinspired to Salvinia molesta leaves. The artificial hairs, with crown-like heads, were reproduced by scaling down (ca. 100 times smaller) the dimensions of natural features, so that microscale hairs with sub-micrometric resolution were attained. The micro-patterned surface, in analogy with the natural model, shows interesting properties in terms of hydrophobicity and air retention when submerged by water, even if realized with a hydrophilic material. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated the capability to promote localized condensation of water droplets from moisture in the atmosphere.