Facile Fabrication of Electrohydrodynamic Micro‐/Nanostructures with High Aspect Ratio of a Conducting Polymer for Large‐Scale Superhydrophilic/Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Abstract

This communication describes a straightforward, cost‐effective, and contactless lithography technique, electrohydrodynamic patterning, for fabricating the high‐aspect‐ratio micro‐/nanostructures of the conducting polymer (CP) films directly on a conductive substrate with high integrity and throughput. Meanwhile, the superhydrophilicity/superhydrophobicity of the final CP films can be obtained by modulating the ON/OFF‐state of the circuit of the assembly in the structure formation process. The final patterned CP films are hydrophilic/superhydrophilic when the circuit of the assembly is ON‐state in the structure formation process, while they are hydrophobic/superhydrophobic when the circuit of the assembly is OFF‐state. The high‐aspect‐ratio micro‐/nanostructures of the CP films with the superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic surface are important in both fundamental research and practical applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, supercapacitors, actuators, low friction surfaces, and water harvesting.

Pattern formation in thin polymeric films via electrohydrodynamic patterning

“…6c. [115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123] Furthermore, to fabricate a hierarchically ordered structure, Tian et al improved above EHDP-PPP method by substituting the featureless template with a patterned template which feature size is far less than the characteristic wavelength l of the given system, as shown in Fig. 7a and b.…”

Facile Fabrication of a Flexible Patterned Film with Diverse Micro-/Nanostructures via Electrohydrodynamic Patterning

“…In addition, EHDP suffers from its long patterning time, low aspect ratio, and large feature size due to high melt viscosity, low dielectric constant, and low electrical conductivity of the frequently-used polymer in EHDP . Therefore, the development of new kinds of polymers that can fulfill efficient EHDP on flexible substrates is an urgent task. − …”

Electrohydrodynamic Patterning of Polyethersulfone Membranes

“…Electrically induced patterning or electrohydrodynamic (EHD) patterning technique, however, offers a cheaper, easier, and faster soft lithographic approach that can be implemented at room temperature and pressure without the need for any sophisticated facility. Over the past few decades, there has been the extensive dedication of studies proving the merit of the EHD method. − In this method, a molten polymer film, at a temperature above the glass-transition temperature of the polymer, is sandwiched between two electrodes while leaving a gap for air as the bounding layer. The electrodes are separated by an electrically insulating material (see the schematic shown in Figure a).…”