Static and Dynamic Hydrophobic Properties of Honeycomb Structured Films via Breath Figure Method

This work reported the static and dynamic hydrophobic properties of the honeycomb porous and peeled films with pincushion structures by changing the concentrations of the copolymer solution. Honeycomb porous films were fabricated via breath figure technology employing a pentablock copolymer containing poly(ethylene glycol)/PEG, poly(methyl methacrylate)/PMMA, and poly(trifluoroethyl methacrylate)/PTFEMA. The relationship between the copolymer concentrations and the pore size (D) and rim width (W) was examined. Moreover, we studied the hydrophobic properties from different surfaces of flat, porous, and pincushion structures, and the contact angles, W/D ratios, and fraction of air on the porous and pincushion films were obtained. It was noteworthy that the W/D ratios and surface hydrophobic properties had a notable correlation. Finally, the dynamic behaviors of water droplets impacting on these porous and pincushion films were examined using a high speed camera. It examined the influence of the fraction of air on the measurement of the dynamic morphologies, contact angle in equilibrium state, maximum spreading diameter and maximum height of the droplet, and adhesive property of porous and pincushion films. The films obtained in this paper may have some potential applications as hydrophobic, self-cleaning, and antibacterial surfaces.