Fast removal of condensates from surfaces is of great significance due to the enhanced thermal transfer coefficient and continuous condensation. However, the lost superhydrophobicity of lotus leaves intrigues us to determine what kind of surface morphologies meets the self-removal of condensates? The uphill movement of condensates in textured surfaces is vital to avoid flooding and facilitating self-removal. Here, superhydrophobic microtower arrays were designed to explore the spontaneous uphill movement and Wenzel to Cassie transition as well as the self-removal of condensates. The tower-like arrays enable spontaneous uphill movement of tiny condensates entrapped in microstructures due to the large upward Laplace pressure, which is ∼30 times larger than that on cone-like arrays. The sharp tips decrease the adhesion to suspending droplets and promote their fast self-removal. These results are important for designing desirable textured surfaces by enlarging upward Laplace pressure to facilitate condensate self-removal, which is widely applied in self-cleaning, antifogging, anti-icing, water harvesting, and thermal management systems.Keywords: microtower; self-removal; spontaneous; superhydrophobic; uphill movement

Inkjet printing lines with controllable footprints is the prerequisite of fabricating high-quality patterns. However, achieving precise footprints of lines by inkjet printing is still a challenge because of the difficulty in controlling coalescences of ink droplets. Here, controllable footprint lines were fabricated by adjusting the ink droplets’ dynamic wettability which is depended on the ink droplets’ surface tension difference. The experimental surface tension difference of 0.77–1.50 mN/m leads to appropriate surface dynamic wettability to ink droplets and the formation of straight lines, which agrees well with the theoretical results. These results will pave the way for printing electronics and patterns.Keywords: coalescence; controllable footprint line; dynamic wettability; inkjet printing