Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Flexible Micro-Nanostructure Arrays on High-Density Polyethylene Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications

Superhydrophobic surfaces are highly desirable for industrial applications; however, they are often hindered by complex fabrication methods that are primarily suitable for rigid, thick materials. Herein, we impart superhydrophobicity to flexible, thin, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) surface with a simple, environmentally friendly, low-cost method in this study. By applying the hot embossing and cold drawing process synergistically, bionic micro/nanostructure arrays are created on pristine smooth surfaces. Due to the extremely low proportion of the contact area of the solid-liquid phase in the three-phase composite interface, the nanofur surface exhibits water repellency, low water adhesion, and anti-icing properties in experiments, which features a high compressive contact angle up to ≈171.6°. By integrating hot embossing with cold drawing, this fabrication strategy enables the design of flexible superhydrophobic surfaces that adapt to complex curvatures, thus offering possibilities for applications including wearable droplet manipulators, portable sensors, adaptive adhesion control, and liquid-repellent skins for micro-air vehicles.