Flexible Broadband Light Absorbers with a Superhydrophobic Surface Fabricated by Ultraviolet-assisted Nanoimprint Lithography

We present a simple approach to fabricate a kind of composite films with a superhydrophobic and broadband light absorbing surface by ultraviolet-assisted nanoimprinting over a gradiently deposited composite matrix. The wettability and optical property of the resultant surfaces are tunable by the deposition time before polymerization(Ts) and mold’s topography. Mechanically robust and elastomeric films exhibiting high sunlight absorptivity up to 98.13% and contact angle of their surfaces up to 150° are prepared under optimized conditions, as using a mold with a small pattern size(hexagonal periodic mold with cylinder diameter of ca. 37 μm) under Ts =10 min for imprinting the crosslinked poly[di(ethylene glycol) ethyl ether acrylate] and poly(isobornyl acrylate) in the presence of polypyrrole(PPy) nanoparticles. Such dual functions are found related to the hierarchical architecture of the surface, arising from the synergetic effects of the periodical patterned polymer substrate and spontaneously assembled PPy microstructures on the patterns. The current strategy based on the combination of ultraviolet-assisted nanoimprint lithography and hierarchical assembly of gradiently deposited black nano-fillers offers a new insight into the design of robust superhydrophobic and black surfaces, which is helpful to deepen our understanding of the relationship between liquid/light manipulation and micro/nanostructured surfaces.