Extreme-wetting surfaces, such as superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic, superoleo-
phobic and superoleophilic surfaces have found significant interest in recent times.

These surfaces offer excellent wettability control and therefore have great importance

from fundamental research to applications. Hence, fundamental understanding of ex-
treme wetting surfaces is of great interest. In this thesis, a simple, inexpensive and

rapid method for fabrication of a stable and transparent superhydrophobic (TSHB) sur-
face and its reversible transition to a transparent superhydrophilic (TSHL) surface is re-
ported. A mechanistic understanding of the superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilic-
ity and the reversible transition between these two wetting states is provided. The pro-
posed TSHB surface was created by candle sooting a partially cured n-hexane+PDMS

surface followed by washing with DI water. The nano/microscopic grooved structures

created on the surface conforms Cassie – Baxter state and thus gives rise to superhy-
drophobicity (water contact angle (WCA)=161°±1°). The TSHB surface when sub-
jected to oxygen plasma develops –OH bonds on the surface thus gets transformed into

a TSHL surface (WCA