title: Free-Standing, Flexible, Superomniphobic Films.
abstract: Fabrication of most superomniphobic surfaces requires complex process conditions or specialized and expensive equipment or skilled personnel. In order to circumvent these issues and make them end-user-friendly, we developed the free-standing, flexible, superomniphobic films. These films can be stored and delivered to the end-users, who can readily attach them to virtually any surface (even irregular shapes) and impart superomniphobicity. The hierarchical structure, the re-entrant texture, and the low solid surface energy render our films superomniphobic for a wide variety of liquids. We demonstrate that our free-standing, flexible, superomniphobic films have applications in enhanced chemical resistance and enhanced weight bearing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and ‡School of Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vahabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and ‡School of Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and ‡School of Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
authors.forename: Sanli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Movafaghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and ‡School of Biomedical Engineering, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States.
authors.forename: Arun K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Kota
keywords: enhanced chemical resistance; enhanced weight-bearing capacity; flexible; free-standing; superomniphobic