biostudies-literatureUnknown10Zhang LNatural Science Foundation of Zhejiang ProvinceNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaCyrus Tang FoundationWe report a scalable and cost-effective fabrication approach for constructing bio-inspired micro/nanostructured surfaces. It involves silicon microstructure etching using a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) method, nanowires deposition <i>via</i> glancing angle deposition (GLAD) process, and fluorocarbon thin film deposition. Compared with the smooth, microstructured, and nanostructured surfaces, the hierarchical micro/nanostructured surfaces obtained <i>via</i> this method showed the highest water contact angle of ∼161° and a low sliding angle of <10°. It also offered long ice delay times of 2313 s and 1658 s at -5°C and -10°C respectively, more than 10 times longer than smooth surfaces indicating excellent anti-icing properties and offering promising applications in low-temperature environments. These analyses further proved that the surface structures have a significant influence on surface wettability and anti-icing behavior. Hence, the GLAD process which is versatile and cost-effective offers the freedom of constructing nanostructures on top of microstructures to achieve the required objective in the fabrication of micro/nanostructured surfaces when compared to other fabrication techniques.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology872268https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8977784biostudies-literatureBio-Inspired Hierarchical Micro/Nanostructured Surfaces for Superhydrophobic and Anti-Ice Applications.PMC8977784Penkov OVUzoma PCHu HXiaoyang CZhang LfalseBio-Inspired Hierarchical Micro/Nanostructured Surfaces for Superhydrophobic and Anti-Ice Applications.We report a scalable and cost-effective fabrication approach for constructing bio-inspired micro/nanostructured surfaces. It involves silicon microstructure etching using a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) method, nanowires deposition <i>via</i> glancing angle deposition (GLAD) process, and fluorocarbon thin film deposition. Compared with the smooth, microstructured, and nanostructured surfaces, the hierarchical micro/nanostructured surfaces obtained <i>via</i> this method showed the highest water contact angle of ∼161° and a low sliding angle of <10°. It also offered long ice delay times of 2313 s and 1658 s at -5°C and -10°C respectively, more than 10 times longer than smooth surfaces indicating excellent anti-icing properties and offering promising applications in low-temperature environments. These analyses further proved that the surface structures have a significant influence on surface wettability and anti-icing behavior. Hence, the GLAD process which is versatile and cost-effective offers the freedom of constructing nanostructures on top of microstructures to achieve the required objective in the fabrication of micro/nanostructured surfaces when compared to other fabrication techniques.2022-01-01T00:00:00Z20222025-04-19T20:08:56.371Z2025-04-19T20:08:56.371ZS-EPMC89777843538730410.3389/fbioe.2022.872268