Thermal annealing as a new simple method for PTFE texturing

The present work demonstrates how polytetrafiuoroethylene can be textured at both nanometric and microscopic scales by simply controlling the duration and temperature of the polymer annealing. Two main phenomena responsible for the PIPE surface texturing are identified which are the crystallite growth and the stress relaxation. The patterned surfaces were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and contact angles measurements. As expected, an enhancement of the hydrophobic and oleophobic properties due to the texturation of the treated PTFE is observed. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.