Sliding behavior of oil droplets on nanosphere stacking layers with different surface textures

Two facile coating techniques, gravitational sediment and spin coating, were applied for the creation of silica sphere stacking layers with different textures onto glass substrates that display various sliding abilities toward liquid drops with different surface tensions, ranged from 25.6 to 72.3 mN/m. The resulting silica surface exhibits oil repellency, long-period durability > 30 days, and oil sliding capability. The two-tier texture offers a better roll-off ability toward liquid drops with a wide range of γL, ranged from 30.2 to 72.3 mN/m, i.e., when the sliding angle (SA) < 15°, the oil droplet start to roll off the surface. This improvement of sliding ability can be ascribed to the fact that the two-tier texture allows for air pockets (i.e., referred to as the Cassie state), thus favoring the self-cleaning ability. Taking Young–Duprè equation into account, a linearity relationship between sine SA and work of adhesion (Wad) appears to describe the sliding behavior within the Wad region: 2.20–3.03 mN/m. The smaller Wad, the easier drop sliding (i.e., the smaller SA value) takes place on the surfaces. The Wad value ∼3.03 mN/m shows a critical kinetic barrier for drop sliding on the silica surfaces from stationary to movement states. This work proposes a mathematical model to simulate the sliding behavior of oil drops on a nanosphere stacking layer, confirming the anti-oil contamination capability.