Tuning the fluid wetting dynamics on gold microstructures using photoactive compounds

[Display omitted] •Spiropyran, a well-known photoactive compound, was used for the first time to tune wetting dynamics on microstructured gold.•Photoswitchable surface developed in this work provides non-invasive approach to control wettability.•The ability to engineering microstructures using surface chemistry was demonstrated. This work demonstrates how photoactive compounds can be used to tune the surface chemistry, surface free energy, and the wetting velocity of fluids on Spiropyran functionalized surfaces with different surface microstructures. Evidence of this photowetting effect is based on data showing: (1) the cyclic changes in the static, advancing, and receding contact angles θCA for multiple UV⇄vis photoswitching cycles with both smooth and microstructured surfaces and (2) the changes in the fluid wicking velocity (via UV⇄vis photoswitching) on different Spiropyran functionalized hemiwicking surfaces. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to determine the efficiency of photoswitching caused by the quality of the Spiropyran functionalization. Reversible photoisomerization of Spiropyran generates a gradient in surface free energy, resulting in a similar change in contact angle (θCA) in the photoswitchable surfaces. By incorporating these changes into the Owens-Wendt and Van Oss surface energy models, the energy of smooth Au surfaces can also be predicted for both UV and visible light irradiations, where reversible contact angle variations of ΔθCA≈ 5–10° are achieved with both water and water-ethanol mixtures due to the conversion of SP to merocyanine, which corresponds to a total free energy change of ∼13% on the photoswitchable surface.