Self-Assembled, Ultra-Hydrophobic Micro/Nano-Textured Surfaces; Conference paper

摘要

The formation of hierarchically ordered arrays of spherical cavities on polymer films is of interest due to potential applications in the preparation of photonic bandgap materials, environmental sensors, and patterned light emitting diodes (LED). While many methods are known for the preparation of these porous materials, the breath figure approach has received significant scrutiny because of the simple and robust mechanism of pattern formation. Breath figures are patterned arrays of micrometer-sized defects in a polymer film, formed when water droplets condensed onto a polymer solution surface during film drying. By controlling variables such as relative humidity and solvent, the feature size and uniformity of the resultant pattern can be controlled. The breath figure approach is valuable because it provides the advantages of large area ordering in the nano and micrometer regime, is versatile, and inexpensive.