A Simple Route to Morphology-Controlled Polydimethylsiloxane Films Based on Particle-Embedded Elastomeric Masters for Enhanced Superhydrophobicity

We present a simple route for controlling the surface morphology of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films based on a standard replica molding technique incorporating a microparticle-embedded elastomeric master for enhancing surface wetting properties. The elastomeric masters are simply prepared by embedding microparticles (MPs) firmly into a surface of PDMS substrates using an abrasive air-jetting (AAJ) that can be potentially scaled up to large-area fabrication. The surface geometries of the PDMS masters can be easily controlled by using MPs with different shape and size in the AAJ process, resulting in easy control of the surface morphologies and resultant wetting and optical properties of the PDMS films after replicating. The PDMS masters are found to be highly durable, enabling repeated use to produce superhydrophobic PDMS films with similar characteristics. In addition, the fabricated PDMS films retain almost constant properties even under repetitive compressing and stretching deformations thanks to the mechanical robustness enabled by their all-elastomeric architectures. We show that the fabricated PDMS surfaces can be potentially employed as self-cleaning films in glass-based applications, even with complex surfaces, owing to their enhanced wetting properties, fairly good optical transparency, and superior mechanical stability.