Wetting Transition from the Cassie-Baxter State to the Wenzel State on Textured Polymer Surfaces

The wetting transition from the Cassie-Baxter state to the Wenzel state on textured surfaces was investigated. Nano- to microscale hexagonal pillared lattices were prepared by nanoimprint lithography on fluorinated cycloolefin polymer substrates. The transition was clearly observed for water and some ionic liquids through contact angle measurements and optical microscopy. A simple model clearly demonstrated that the energy barrier in the wetting transition from the Cassie-Baxter state to the Wenzel state was dominated by the competition between the energy barrier and external forces, particularly the Laplace pressure in the present case.