Fabrication of superhydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride membranes with polytetrafluoroethylene nano-film surface coatings

摘要

In this work, we used pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to coat polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) substrates with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin films at room temperature. Modifying a PVDF membrane with a superhydrophobic nano-coating of PTFE has been shown to enhance the membrane's self-cleaning ability. The PTFE was deposited at different deposition times (15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min). The surface roughness increased as deposition time increased up to 45 minutes. The highest water contact angle, 155° with negligible contact angle hysteresis, was observed for the sample with 45-minute deposition time. This study produced a superhydrophobic PVDF membrane with outstanding self-cleaning properties using a convenient, one-step, non-polluting technique without a wetting step.