Abstract
Applying hot-embossing technology, a simple and cost-effective method for the fabrication of microstructured High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) surfaces with a robust superhydrophobic wetting state is proposed. Micro-meshes and micro-grooves in the flexible template are filled by the PE melt in the hot embossing process. Subsequently, a two-stage microstructure on the PE film surface is formed. This PE film exhibits a contact angle of 151.8° ± 2° and roll-off angle of > 90° when a 5 µL water droplet is dropped on its surface. Water pinning ability on the surface is figured out and roll-off angles are as a quadratic function of specified water droplet volume. Specifically, a 356 µN water pinng force appears on the HDPE film due to the solid-vapor composite interface on its surface. Meanwhile, self-cleaning and immersion tests reveal that the HDPE surface with micro-pillars exhibit robust Cassie impregnating wetting state against external pressure. The proposed method for facial fabrication of microstructured surfaces is an appropriate candidate for the development of droplet manipulation and functional biomimetic polymer surfaces.
Highlights
Through uninterrupted evolution and natural selection, natural creatures have evolved various well-designed structures with excellent features for living in harsh environments[1,2]
Superhydrophobic microstructured High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) films with high water pinning force have been achieved through hot-embossing
Low cost flexible plain-woven mesh is favorable for the fabrication of the two-stage microstructured HDPE film which exhibits a Contact Angles (CAs) of 151.8 ̊ ± 2 ̊ and Roll-off Angles (RAs) of > 90 ̊
Summary
Through uninterrupted evolution and natural selection, natural creatures have evolved various well-designed structures with excellent features for living in harsh environments[1,2]. Creating micro/nanostructures with special properties on polymer surfaces has attracted significant attention due to their potential applications in fundamental research and biomedical industry[18,19,20,21,22]. Fabricating micro- nanostructures on polymer surfaces by hot embossing involves creating a template, typically on a hard metallic surface and using this template to reproduce its reverse pattern on a polymeric substrate. To pursue facile preparation of the water pinning microstructures on High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) surface, an approach that combines hot-embossing and flexible plain-woven mesh is proposed in our work. Hot-embossing is typically used in the highly efficient and low-cost fabrication of micronanostructured polymer surfaces[29,30,31]. HDPE films with orderly arranged tapered microstructures are fabricated, which exhibit water pinning and self-cleaning properties
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