biostudies-literatureHan ZJilin UniversityPeople’s Government of Jilin ProvinceNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation26497-26505https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9083089biostudies-literatureUnknown8(47)In this work, inspired by some typical creatures from nature with superhydrophobic surfaces, a bio-inspired antifogging PDMS is designed and fabricated successfully using UV lithography and a template method. First, we fabricated an SU-8 layer with a bio-inspired micro-pillared array (MPA) using traditional UV lithography. Then, it was used as a template to fabricate a PDMS film (PF). After that, it was chemically modified with SiO₂ coatings. It was found that the PF coupled with sprayed SiO₂ coatings and a MPA have a higher water contact angle (CA) of 158° and a lower contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of less than 2°. Water drops can be separated from this bio-inspired PDMS surface within 86.8 ms. More importantly, this film's antifogging property is superior, with a reRSC advancesBio-inspired antifogging PDMS coupled micro-pillared superhydrophobic arrays and SiO₂ coatings.PMC9083089SF2017-3-451505183201701051325501516752202018T110246Niu SRen LZhang JFeng XHan ZJiao ZWang ZZhao JfalseBio-inspired antifogging PDMS coupled micro-pillared superhydrophobic arrays and SiO₂ coatings.In this work, inspired by some typical creatures from nature with superhydrophobic surfaces, a bio-inspired antifogging PDMS is designed and fabricated successfully using UV lithography and a template method. First, we fabricated an SU-8 layer with a bio-inspired micro-pillared array (MPA) using traditional UV lithography. Then, it was used as a template to fabricate a PDMS film (PF). After that, it was chemically modified with SiO₂ coatings. It was found that the PF coupled with sprayed SiO₂ coatings and a MPA have a higher water contact angle (CA) of 158° and a lower contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of less than 2°. Water drops can be separated from this bio-inspired PDMS surface within 86.8 ms. More importantly, this film's antifogging property is superior, with a re2018-01-01T00:00:00Z2018 Jul2025-04-27T01:05:04.371Z2025-04-06T18:06:00.367ZS-EPMC90830893554109210.1039/c8ra04699a