Super-hydrophobic and/or Super-hydrophilic Surfaces Made by Plasma Process

L. Chen, G. Henein, J.A. Liddle
National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

Keywords: super-hydrophobic, super-hydrophilic, plasma, nano, surface

Abstract:

Superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces are generally made by modifying the surface with chemistry and introducing roughness or patterns on surfaces. The processes are generally complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we introduce a simple and fast plasma process to form super-hydrophobic and/or super-hydrophilic surfaces. The process includes plasma induced surface nano-pattern formation, substrate etching and surface chemical modification. By using this process, we can make super-hydrophobic or super-hydrophilic surfaces easily. Even more, we can incorporate both super-hydrophobic and super-hydrophilic properties on one surface and switch the surface property between super-hydrophobic and super-hydrophilic. This environmentally friendly and economic process can potentially be used in a variety of applications including self-cleaning glass, stain-resistant textiles, anti-fogging windows, microfluidic chips, drug delivery systems, separations, and protein concentrators