Preparation of material surface structure similar to hydrophobic structure of lotus leaf

Abstract

Nano/micro replication, a technique widely applied in the microelectronics field, was introduced to prepare the hydrophobic bionics microstructure on material surface. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and polystyrene (PS) moulds of the mastoid microstructure on lotus leaf surface were prepared respectively by the nano/micro replication technology. And poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) replicas with the mastoid-like microstructure were prepared from these two kinds of polymer moulds. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) was employed to investigate the morphology and microstructures on moulds and replicas. Both the static and dynamic contact angles between water droplet and PDMS replicas’ surface were also measured. As a result, similar microstructure can be observed clearly on the surface of PDMS replicas and the static contact angle on PDMS replicas was enhanced dramatically by the existence of these microstructures.