Preparation and characterization of a porous superhydrophobic polymeric surface via facile technique

Abstract

The porous superhydrophobic surface of low density polyethylene (LDPE) was fabricated via a simple technique using an inexpensive non-solvent additive. The prepared polymeric surface was characterized by SEM and AFM to evaluate its morphology. Investigations unveiled that ethanol performed better than methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) as a non-solvent additive, leading to higher surface hydrophobicity. Moreover, increasing ethanol content in LDPE solution up to 50 % (v/v) has resulted in increasing the surface water contact angle (WCA). The resulting nano- and micro-structure surface had water contact and sliding angles of 160° ± 1.4° and 2°, respectively. The LDPE surface sustained its superhydrophobic behavior even upon exposure to acid, alkali, and amine solutions. Industrially, the findings obtained in this work might contribute toward improving gas-liquid contactors due to its water repellency characteristic and protection of surfaces due to its resistance to strong corrosive materials.