Colloidal Sphere Assisted Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Nano-Structuring for Hydrophobic Properties

A superhydrophobic surface has received a lot of attention for a long time because it's unique potential which have advantages in micro/nanomechanical applications, such as low adhesion, low friction and high restitution coefficient, etc. In this paper, we introduce a novel and simple route to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces using Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) film which have patterned with colloidal mask template. The pattern of PDMS film was varied as function of colloidal size which was controlled by synthesizing conditions such as monomer amounts. This diversified pattern size has induced hydrophobic properties of films respectively and it was investigated using by water contact angle measurement. Shape of PDMS film structure also checked over by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) image and it show the pyramidal shape with hexagonal pattern. This work provides a facile approach for generating superhydrophobic thin films with nano/micro structure on any other substrate using polymer latex mask template.