Realization of superhydrophobic surfaces based on three-dimensional printing technology

Abstract

A superhydrophobic surface was successfully realized using fused deposition modeling-type three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. The low printing resolution (400 mu m) and various printing angles from 0 degrees to 90 degrees were employed to print the mold for casting of polymer surfaces. The polymer surface cast from the mold exhibited waveform microstructures that had a tilting angle almost identical to the printing angle. The maximum average water contact angle (WCA) of fabricated polymer surfaces was 160 degrees, which is much higher than that of flat (bare) polymer surfaces (up to 52.3% increase in the WCA). In particular, water droplets immediately rolled off along 8 degrees-tilted surfaces, cast from the mold printed with printing angle of 70 degrees. This demonstrated the superhydrophobic property. The result of this study shows the feasibility of a facile, rapid, inexpensive, and effective microfabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces using the current 3D printing technology.